Bulletin  No.  7— New  Series. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 


DIVISION  OF  ENTOMOLOGY 


scni  e 


MISCELLANEOUS  KES-ULTS 


OF   TIIK 


WORK'  OF  THE  DIVISIOOF  ENT03I0L0GY. 


PREPARED  UXDKJt  THE  DIRECTION  OF 

L.   O.  HOWARD, 
ENTOMOLOGIST. 


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WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

1807. 


DIVISION  OF  ENTOMOLOGY. 

Entomologist:  L.  O.  Howard. 

Assist.  Entomologists :  C.  L.  Marlatt,  Th.  Pergande,  F.  H.  Chittenden,  Frank  Benton. 

Investigators :  E.  A.  Sckwarz,  H.  G.  Hubbard,  W.  H.  Asbmead,  D.  W.  Ooquillett, 

Assistants:  R.  S.  Clifton,  Nathan  Banks,  F.  C.  Pratt. 

Artist:  Miss  L.  Sullivan. 


Bulletin  No.  7— New  Series. 

U.S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

DIVISION  OF  ENTOMOLOGY. 


SOME 


MISCELLANEOUS  RESULTS 


OF    THE 


WORK  OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  ENTOMOLOGY. 


PREPARED  UNDER  THE  DIRECTION  OF 

L.   O.  HOWARD, 
ENTOMOLOGIST. 


WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE, 

L897. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Division  of  Entomology, 
Washington,  D.  C,  January  7,  1897. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  manuscript  of  Bul- 
letin No.  7,  new  series,  of  this  Division.     It  contains  certain  articles, 
reports,  and  notes  which  are  difficult  to  classify,  but  which  are  all 
more  or  less  important  and  well  worth  immediate  publication. 
Respectfully, 

L.  O.  Howard, 

Entomologist. 
Hon.  J.  Sterling  Morton, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Introduction 7 

'I'm:  Ambrosia  Beetles  of  the  United  States  (illustrated)  //.  a.  Hubbard..         it 

Grasshopper  Report  for  1895 Lawrence  Bruner..        31 

( rB  VSSHOPPEB  REPOBT  FOR  1896 Lawrence  /'.ntner..         36 

Some  Inse<  rs  Affecting  the  Hop  Plant  (illustrated) L.  0.  Howard..       40 

The  Plum  Plant-louse  (Myzua  mdhaleb  Fonsc.) Theodore  Pergande..        52 

The      Rose      Leaf-beetle      (Nodonota      puncticollia     Say)      (illustrated) 

/'.  //.  Chittenden..        60 

A  Cask  of  Excessive  Parasitism L.  0.  Howard..        62 

The    Walnut    Spanworm     (Boarmia    plumigeraria     Hulst.)     (illustrated) 

V.   W.  CoquilleU..        64 

[nsect  Injury  to  Chestnut  and  Pine  Trees  in  Virginia  and  Neighbob- 

iv.  .   STATES  (illustrated) /•'.  II.  Chittenden  . .         67 

General  Notes 76 

A  Leaf-miner  of  Tobacco  (p.  76) — A  Gall-making  Coccid  in  America  (illus- 
fcrated  (p.  70 — Damage  by  the  White  Pine  Butterfly  (p.  77) — Recent 
Damage  by  the  Strawberry  Weevil  (p.  78) — Note  on  the  Ambrosia-feeding 
Scolytid  (Xyleborua  taohygrophua  Zimm)  (p.  79) — The  Harlequin  Cabbage 
Bug  on  Asparagus  (p.  80)— Meal-worms  in  Soda  Ash  (p.  81)— Australian 
and  New  Zealand  Coccidae  (p.  HI)— Two  Apple  Insects  Liable  to  Impor- 
tation (p.  82)— A  New  Direct  Benefit  from  Insects  (p.  82)— Additional 
Popular  Names  for  Corydalia  cornuta  (p.  82). 

Notes  From  Cobrespondence *j 

Eastern  Insects  reported  in  British  Columbia  (p.  84)— A  Wasp  attacking 
Codling  Moth  Larva-  (p.  81)— Cells  of  a  Leaf-cutter  Bee  in  a  Curious 
Place  (p.  84) — Birds  Eating  Leaf-miners  (p.  84)—  A  migration  of  Coliaa 
ca'sonia  (p.  84)— Boll  Worm  1  tamage  to  strawberry  Plants  (p.  84) — Injury 
to  Apples  by  the  Ash-gray  Pinion  (p.  84)— Scolytid  Beetles  boring  into 
Wine  Casks  (p.  85)— Invasion  of  a  Carabid  Beetle  (p. 85)— An  Unwel- 
come insect  Imported  via  the  World's  Fair  (p. 85)— The  Drug-store  Bee- 
tle Damaging  Boots  Again  (p.  85)— Injury  by  the  Three-striped  Blister 
Beetle  (p.  85)— Oreodera  in  the  West  Indies  (p.  85)— A  New  Locality  for 
Bruchu8  obaoletm  (p. 85)— Hippelates  Flies  and  Sore  lives  (p. 86) — Larva 
in  the  Ear  (p.  86)— Early  and  New  Appearances  of  the  Horn  Fly  (p.  86)— 
A  Man-infesting  Bol  (p.86 — An  Efficient  Flycatcher  (p. 86)— Habits  of 
Comastea  robuatua  0.  8.  (p.86)— A  Corn-feeding  Syrphid  Fly  (p.  86)— 
Damage  to  Chufas  by  Cyrtoneurua  mutdbilia  (p.86)— A  Plant-bug  on  Rus- 
sian Apricol  Trees  (p.  87)— Chionoapia  biclavia  in  Mexico  (p.  87)— The 
Bop  Plant-louse  in  Japan  (p.  87)— Abundance  of  a  Red  Mite  in  Arizona 
(p.S7)—I6eryapurchoai  nor  in  the  Azores  (p.  v7  . 

5 


INTRODUCTION 


When  the  publication  of  Insect  Life  was  discontinued  with  the  com- 
pletion of  Volume  VII,  it  was  promised  that  its  place  would  be  taken 
by  two  series  of  bulletins,  the  one  technical  in  its  character  and  the 
other  of  more  general  interest.  The  general  bulletins,  it  was  stated. 
would  comprise  short  reports  on  special  observations,  and  others  upon 
the  miscellaneous  results  of  the  work  of  the  Division  in  practical  and 
economic  lines  and  in  directions  of  general  interest,  thus  including  in 
the  main  many  of  the  classes  of  articles  which  had  been  published  in 
Insect  Life.  The  bulletins  of  this  general  series  so  far  published  will 
mainly  go  under  the  first  of  these  categories.  The  present  bulletin  is 
the  first  which  comes  under  the  second  category.  Much  information  of 
great  value  to  economic  and  systematic  entomologists,  and  of  very  con- 
siderable general  interest  as  well  as  of  much  practical  importance,  is 
constantly  accumulating  in  the  Division.  Such  of  it  as  can  be  used  in 
reports  and  bulletins  upon  more  or  less  special  subjects  is  so  used. 
The  balance,  however,  is  hard  to  classify,  and  yet  much  of  it  is  no  less 
important.  The  general  notes,  for  example,  and  the  notes  from  corre- 
spondence, which  may  seem  more  or  less  insignificant  themselves,  are 
read  with  interest  and  profit  by  very  many  persons  of  different  occu- 
pations, and  it  lias  frequently  happened  that  the  first  record  of  a  fact 
or  observation  of  much  value  has  been  made  in  this  way.  The  char- 
acter of  the  bulletin  can  be  no  more  definitely  indicated  in  a  title  than 
we  have  done  by  the  use  of  the  expression  "  Miscellaneous  liesults." 

L.  O.  U. 


SOME  MISCELLANEOUS  RESULTS  OF  THE  WORK  OF  THE 
DIVISION  OF  ENTOMOLOGY. 


THE   AMBROSIA   BEETLES   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 
By  H.  G.  Hubbard. 

The  term  ambrosia  beetles  is  here  used  as  a  convenient  one  to  distin- 
guish from  the  true  bark-borers  and  bark -eaters  the  timber-boring 
Scolytidae,  which  push  their  galleries  deeply  into  the  wood,  and  which 
feed  upon  a  substance  called  "ambrosia." 

Superficial ly  the  resemblance  between  the  two  groups  is  very  close. 
They  are  small  elongate  beetles,  with  compact  cylindrical  bodies,  short 
legs,  and  dull  coloration  of  varying  shades  of  brown.  Although  differ- 
ences in  structure  exist,  these  have  not  hitherto  been  considered  of 
sufficient  importance  to  warrant  their  separation  into  different  families. 

Although  in  external  form  the  bark-boring  and  timber-boring  Scoly- 
tids  resemble  each  other,  in  their  habits  and  mode  of  life  they  have 
little  in  common.  The  entrances  to  their  galleries  in  the  outer  rind  of 
trees  are  precisely  similar,  and  the  designation  "shot  holes"  would  be 
equally  descriptive  of  either  group.  The  variations  in  diameter  are 
very  well  covered  by  the  different  sizes  of  small  shot.  An  examination 
of  the  galleries  into  which  these  openings  lead  reveals  at  once  the 
widely  different  character  of  the  two  groups. 

The  galleries  of  the  bark -borers  are  superficial  and  lie  within  or  just 
under  the  bark.  The  galleries  of  the  ambrosia-eating  beetles  penetrate 
into  the  wood,  and  in  all  their  ramifications  are  of  uniform  size  and  free 
from  wood  dust  or  other  refuse. 

Their  food  consists  not  of  wood,  but  of  certain  minute  and  juicy 
fungi  propagated  on  the  walls  of  their  galleries.  The  action  of  the 
fungus  produces  a  stain  in  the  wood,  giving  to  the  galleries  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  bored  with  a  red-hot  wire.  These  characteristic 
"black  holes"  serve  to  distinguish  their  work  from  that  of  all  other 
deep-boring  timber  beetles. 

The  ambrosia  beetles,  in  the  care  which  they  give  their  young,  exhibit 
characteristics  utterly  foreign  to  most  Ooleoptera,  and  such  as  are 
usually  attributed  only  to  the  social  liyrnenoptera  and  Neuroptera. 

9 


10 

In  the  species  belonging  to  Platypus  and  Xyleborus  the  female  de- 
posits  her  eggs  loosely  in  the  galleries  or  brood  chambers,  and  young 
and  old  live  together  socially  in  the  same  quarters. 
.  The  species  belonging  to  the  genera  Corthylus,  Monarthruin,  Xylo- 
terns,  and  G-nathotrichus  rear  their  young  in  separate  pits,  which  the 
larvae  never  leave  until  they  transform  to  perfect  insects. 

The  nature  of  the  food  of  the  timber-boring  Scolytidre  has  always 
been  a  matter  of  considerable  uncertainty  and  mystery.  Schmidberger 
first,  in  1836,  treating  of  Xyleborus  dispar,  declared  that  the  food  con- 
sists of  a  substance  coming  from  the  wood  and  elaborated  by  the 
mother  beetle  to  form  "  a  kind  of  ambrosia."  Subsequently  Ratzeburg, 
Altum,  Eichhoff,  and  others  confirmed  the  observations  of  Schmidberger, 
but  added  only  vague  speculations  as  to  the  nature  of  his  "  ambrosia." 

In  1844  Theo.  Hartig  published  an  article  on  the  ambrosia  of  Xyle- 
borus (Bostrichus)  dispar,  in  which  he  showed  that  it  was  a  fungous 
growth  (pilzrasen)  and  he  named  the  fungus  Monilia  Candida.1 

The  subsequent  speculations  of  various  authors  have  added  nothing 
to  our  knowledge.  In  fact,  until  quite  recently,  Hartig  appears  to  have 
been  the  only  writer  who  has  taken  the  trouble  to  make  a  microscopic 
examination  of  the  so-called  ambrosia.  In  a  later  writing  (1872)  upon 
two  species  of  Xyloterus,  the  one  living  in  fir  and  the  other  in  beech 
wood,  the  same  author  states  that  two  distinct  kinds  of  fungus  are  con- 
nected with  these  two  sorts  of  wood.  In  1895  R.  Gothe2  published  an 
excellent  figure  of  the  ambrosia  of  Xyleborus  dispar. 

The  correctness  of  Theo.  Hartig's  and  Gothe's  observations  may  be 
easily  verified.  A  small  fragment  of  ambrosia  taken  from  the  gallery 
of  any  species  of  these  timber  beetles,  if  placed  on  a  glass  slide,  with  a 
drop  of  water  or  glycerine  and  examined  with  an  objective  of  moder- 
ate power,  is  plainly  seen  to  be  a  fungus.  It  will  be  found,  however, 
that  the  different  kinds  of  ambrosia  fungi  are  connected  with  certain 
species  of  the  beetles  irrespective  of  the  sort  of  timber  in  which  the 
galleries  are  constructed.  So  far  as  we  yet  know  the  food  of  each  spe- 
cies of  ambrosia  beetles  is  limited  to  a  certain  kind  of  ambrosia,  and 
only  the  most  closely  related  species  have  the  same  food  fungus. 

Two  principal  types  exist  among  the  varied  forms  of  these  minute 
fungi :  (1)  Those  with  erect  stems,  havingat  the  terminations  of  the  stems 
or  their  branches  swollen  cells  (conidia;  figs.  4,  20,  23).  (2)  Those 
which  form  tangled  chains  of  cells,  resembling  the  piled-up  beads  of  a 
broken  necklace  (figs.  6,26,32).  The  erect  or  stylate  forms  are  found 
among  those  species  of  the  beetles  whose  larvae  live  free  in  the  galleries 
(Platypus  and  Xyleborus).  The  bead-like  or  moniliform  kinds  appear 
to  be  peculiar  to  the  species  whose  larvae  are  reared  in  separate  cells 
or  cradles  (Gorthylus,  Monarthrum,  etc.). 

^llgemeine  Forst  -mid  Jagdzeitung,  B.  13,  p.  73. 

2Benclit  d.  kgl.  Leliranstalt  fiir  Obst-,  Weill  -und  Gnrtenbau  zu  Geisenheim, 
1894-95  (1895),  p.  25.     See  also  Dr.  E.  F.  Smith  in  Amer.  Nat.,  vol.  30, 1896,  p.  319. 


11 

All  the  growing  parts  of  the  fungus  are  extremely  succulent  and 
tender.  The  conidia  especially  are  always  pellucid,  and  glisten  like 
pearls  or  like  drops  of  dew.  When  the  plant  is  in  active  growth,  conidia 
are  produced  in  the  greatest  abundance,  growing  sometimes  singly,  at 
the  end  of  short  straight  stems,  as  in  figs.  20  and  23,  sometimes  in 
grape-like  clusters  among  interlacing  branches,  as  seen  in  fig.  4.  At 
such  periods  the  fungus  appears  upon  the  walls  of  the  galleries  like  a 
coating  of  hoarfrost.  The  young  larva'  nip  off  these  tender  tips  as 
calves  crop  the  heads  of  clover,  but  the  older  larvae  and  the  adult  bee- 
tles eat  the  wiiole  structure  down  to  the  base,  from  which  it  soon  springs 
up  afresh,  appearing  in  little  white  tessellations  upon  the  walls. 

The  growth  of  ambrosia  may  in  fact  be  compared  to  asparagus,  which 
remains  succulent  and  edible  only  when  continually  cropped,  but  if 
allowed  to  go  to  seed  is  no  longer  useful  as  food.  In  like  manner  the 
ambrosia  fungus  must  be  constantly  kept  in  fresh  growth,  otherwise  it 
ripens;  its  cells  burst  and  discharge  the  protoplasmic  granules  which 
they  contain  in  myriads,  and  the  entire  plant  disappears  as  if  over- 
whelmed by  a  ferment. 

Various  disturbances  of  the  conditions  necessary  to  its  growth  are 
apt  to  promote  the  ripening  of  the  fungus,  and  this  is  a  danger  to 
which  every  colony  of  ambrosia  beetles  is  exposed.  If  through  any 
casualty  the  natural  increase  of  a  populous  colony  is  checked,  there 
results  at  once  an  overproduction  of  the  ambrosia.  It  accumulates, 
ripens,  and  discharges  its  spores,  choking  the  galleries  and  often  suffo- 
cating the  remaining  inhabitants  in  their  own  food  material.  The  same 
results  may  sometimes  be  brought  about  by  closing  the  outlets  of«the 
galleries  through  the  bark,  or  by  spraying  into  them  kerosene  or  some 
other  noxious  liquid.  The  inmates  of  the  colony  are  thereby  thrown 
into  a  panic,  the  beetles  rush  hither  and  thither  through  the  galleries, 
trampling  upon  and  crushing  young  larvae  and  eggs,  breaking  down  the 
delicate  lining  of  ambrosia  on  the  walls  of  the  brood  chambers  and  pud- 
dling it  into  a  kind  of  slush,  which  is  pushed  along  and  accumulated 
in  the  passage  ways,  completely  stopping  them  in  places.  The  break- 
ing down  of  the  food  fungus  follows  and  in  a  few  days  the  galleries  are 
filled  with  a  paste-like  mass  of  granules  or  spores,  or  with  threads  of 
mycelium,  in  which  the  living  insects  are  suffocated  and  destroyed. 

The  ambrosia  does  not  make  its  appearance  by  accident  or  at  random 
in  the  galleries  of  the  beetles.  Its  origin  is  entirely  under  the  control 
of  the  insect.  It  is  started  by  the  mother  beetle  upon  a  carefully 
packed  bed  or  layer  of  chips,  sometimes  near  the  entrance,  in  the  bark, 
but  generally  at  the  end  of  a  branch  gallery  in  the  wood.  In  some 
species  the  ambrosia  is  grown  only  in  certain  brood  chambers  of  pecu- 
liar construction.  In  others  it  is  propagated  in  beds,  near  the  cradles 
of  the  larva'.  The  excrement  of  the  larva'  is  used  in  some  and  proba- 
bly in  all  the  species  to  form  new  beds  or  layers  for  the  propagation  of 
the  fungus. 


12 

It  is  not  alone,  however,  the  excreta  of  the  living  beetles  or  their 
young  that  is  required  for  the  development  of  ambrosia;  there  must  be 
present  a  certain  amount  of  moisture  or  sap,  and  the  sap  in  most  species 
must  be  in  a  condition  of  fermentation.  Certain  ambrosia  beetles,  as 
for  example  the  species  of  Corthylus,  seem  not  to  need  fermentation  in 
the  propagation  of  their  fungus;  their  galleries  are  constructed  in  the 
sapwood  of  vigorous  plants.  The  great  majority  of  the  species,  how- 
ever, attack  the  wood  of  such  trees  only  as  are  moribund;  in  which  the 
natural  circulation  of  the  sap  has  ceased,  and  fermentation  has  begun. 
Some  of  the  number  are  also  able  to  produce  their  food  fungus  in  wood 
which  is  saturated  with  a  vinous  or  alcoholic  ferment,  and  they  attack 
wine  and  ale  casks,  perforating  the  staves  with  their  galleries  and 
causing  serious  loss  by  leakage. 

The  precarious  conditions  under  which  their  food  is  produced  limit 
the  life  of  a  colony  of  ambrosia  eaters  in  most  cases  to  a  single  gener- 
ation. 

Under  favorable  conditions,  and  in  large  tree  trunks,  colonies  may 
continue  their  excavations  during  two  or  three  generations  before  the 
failure  of  the  sap  or  change  in  its  condition  puts  an  end  to  their  exist- 
ence and  forces  the  adult  beetles  to  seek  new  quarters. 

When  their  galleries  are  disturbed  and  opened  to  daylight,  the  adult 
beetles  generally  fall  to  eating  their  ambrosia  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
Like  other  social  insects  they  show  their  concern  at  the  threatened  loss 
of  their  most  precious  possession  and  try  to  save  it,  just  as  bees,  when 
alarmed,  rill  themselves  with  honey. 

As  its  honey  is  to  the  bee,  so  to  the  ambrosia-feeding  beetle  its  food 
fungus  is  the  material  the  propagation  and  preservation  of  which  is  the 
chief  concern  of  its  life.  Its  solicitude  concerning  it  is  not  surprising 
when  one  considers  the  herculean  labors  which  it  undergoes  in  the 
effort  to  produce  it,  the  frequent  failures,  and  the  difficulties  and  uncer- 
tainties that  at  all  times  attend  its  preservation  in  the  vegetative  form, 
in  which  alone  it  can  serve  the  insect  as  food. 

INJURIES   CAUSED   BY   AMBROSIA   BEETLES. 

To  living  plants. — As  a  rule,  populous  colonies  of  these  beetles  and 
galleries  so  numerous  and  extensive  as  to  be  capable  of  doing  serious 
harm  are  found  only  in  trees,  which  before  the  attack  began  were  sick 
unto  death  with  maladies  for  which  the  timber  beetles  are  in  nowise 
responsible.  The  few  species  which  enter  the  sapwood  of  vigorous 
trees  do  not  form  large  colonies,  and  the  effect  upon  the  health  of  the 
tree  is  not  appreciable.  One  or  two  species,  it  is  true,  have  the  habit 
of  sapping  the  life  of  twigs  or  small  branches  with  an  encircling  burrow, 
and  a  species  of  Corthylus  does  considerable  injury  in  this  way  to 
young  trees  and  to  shrubbery  in  the  forest. 

Injuries  to  timber. — The  defects  in  wood  caused  by  the  galleries  and 


13 

the  stains  left  by  ambrosia  beetles  probably  entail  more  serious  Losses 
than  their  direct  attacks  upon  living  trees. 

The  majority  of  the  species  confine  their  depredations  to  the  sapwood 
of  recently  felled  or  dying  trees.  They  therefore  affect  injuriously  the 
least  valuable  portion  of  the  wood.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the 
larger  and  stronger  species  are  capable  of  entirely  destroying  for  any 
useful  purpose  except  for  fuel  the  timber  of  the  largesl  trees.  Their 
borings  penetrate  the  heartwood  in  every  direction  and  riddle  it  with 
holes. 

Occasional  black  holes  and  stains  left  by  these  beetles  in  the  heart- 
wood  of  timber  otherwise  sound  reduce  its  grade  and  its  value  in  the 
market,  ami  render  it  unfit  for  use  where  the  full  strength  of  the 
material  is  required,  as,  for  example,  in  the  framework  of  buildings  and 
the  construction  of  wagons,  agricultural  implements,  etc.  But  for  some 
other  purposes,  as  for  furniture  and  inside  finishing  lumber,  it  is  not 
necessarily  deteriorated. 

The  damage  to  timber  intended  for  use  as  cask  headings,  staves,  shin- 
gles, and  the  like  is  very  serious.  Cask  makers  frequently  repair  the 
damage  when  not  too  extensive  by  closing  the  holes  with  wooden  pins. 
The  holes  made  by  certain  species  of  timber  beetles  can  not  be  plugged, 
but  in  most  cases,  owing  to  the  uniform  system  followed  by  each  spe- 
cies in  constructing  its  galleries,  a  particular  method  of  sawing  is  capa- 
ble of  reducing  the  damage  to  a  minimum  and  of  effecting  a  very 
considerable  saving  of  material. 

REMEDIES. 

From  what  has  been  said  of  the  nature  of  the  food  of  these  beetles, 


it  is  evident  that  any  method  by  which  the  entrances  to  their  galleries 
in  the  bark  can  be  closed  will  effectually  put  an  end  to  the  progress  of 
their  colonies. 

Perhaps  the  best  means  of  accomplishing  this  is  by  coating  the 
trunks  with  dendrolene  or  raupenleim.  A  light  brushing  or  spraying 
of  the  bark  with  creosote  or  kerosene  will  sometimes  accomplish  the 
same  result,  especially  at  the  beginning  of  an  attack.  But  this  can 
not  be  depended  upon  to  permanently  protect  the  trees. 

Valuable  fruit  trees  which  have  suffered  injury  from  fire  or  frost  can 
not  always  be  protected  from  attacks  of  the  borers  by  coating  the  bark. 
because  of  the  risk  of  injury  to  the  buds,  which  must  be  allowed  to 
grow  upon  the  trunks.  In  such  cases,  if  borers  enter  the  wood  their 
holes  must  be  plugged.  An  excellent  method  is  to  insert  an  iron  wire 
as  far  as  it  will  go,  cut  it  off  and  Leave  the  piece  in  the  hole.  The 
inhabitants  of  colonies  thus  imprisoned  are  unable  to  extend  their 
borings  and  inevitably  perish. 


14 


THE    GENUS   PLATYPUS. 


The  species  of  this  genus  are  among  the  largest,  strongest,  and  most 
destructive  of  the  ambrosia  beetles  in  the  United  States.    They  are 

readily  known  by  their 


fe: 


FlG.l. 


-Section  of  an  orange  trunk,  showing  galleries  of  Platypus 
compositus— greatly  reduced  (original). 


very  long  cylindrical 
bodies,  their  promi- 
nent heads,  flattened 
in  front,  the  flattened 
and  spur-tipped  joint 
of  the  front  legs,  and 
in  the  males  the  spiue- 
like  projections  of  the 
wing-cases  behind. 

They  are  powerful 
excavators,  generally 
selecting  the  trunks  of 
large  trees,  and  driv- 
ing their  galleries  deep 
into  the  heartwood. 
The  section  of  an  orange  trunk  shown  in  fig.  1  indicates  how  extensive 
their  galleries  sometimes  become. 

The  female  is  frequently  accompanied  by  several  males,  and  as  they 
are  savage  fighters,  fierce  sexual  contests  take  place,  as 
a  result  of  which  the  galleries  are  often  strewn  with  the 
fragments  of  the  vanquished.  The  projecting  spines  at 
the  end  of  the  wing-cases  are  very  effective  weapons  in 
these  fights.  With  their  aid  a  beetle  attacked  in  the  rear 
can  make  a  good  defense  and  frequently  by  a  lucky  stroke 
is  able  to  dislocate  the  outstretched  neck  of  his  enemy. 
The  females  produce  from  100  to  200  elongate-oval 
pearl-white  eggs,  which  they  deposit,  in  clusters  of  10  or 
12,  loosely  in  the  galleries.  / 

The  young  require  five  or  six 
weeks  for  their  development.  They 
wander  freely  about  in  the  pass- 
ages and  feed  in  company  upon  the 
ambrosia  which  grows  here  and 
there  upon  the  walls.  The  adult 
larva  is  represented  in  fig.  2  (lower 
fig.),  while  fig.  3  (upper  fig.)  exhibits  in  greatly  enlarged  detail  the 
cliitinous  ridges  upon  the  thoracic  segment.  These  ridges,  together 
with  the  row  of  tubercles  upon  the  other  segments,  enable  the  larva 
to  move  as  rapidly  through  the  galleries  as  if  it  were  possessed  of  well- 
formed  legs.     The  details  of  the  mouth  parts  seen  in  fig.  3  show  that 


< 


Fig.  2. — Platypus  compositus :  Upper  figure,  imago ; 
lower  figure,  fnll-growii  larva — enlarged  (origi- 
nal). 


If) 


kAr^d^Qr.^'' 


the  larva  is  provided  with  strong  catting  mandibles,  bnt  the  inner  jaws 
(fig.  3,  middle  fig.)  are  not  adapted  to  masticating  hard  food,  such  as 
particles  of  wood. 

The  older  larvae  assist  in  excavating  the  galleries,  bnt  they  do  not 
eat  or  swallow  the  wood.  The  larvae  of  all  ages  are  surprisingly  alert, 
active,  and  intelligent.  They  exhibit  curiosity  equally  with  the  adults, 
and  show  evident  regard  for  the  eggs  and  very  tender  young,  which  are 
scattered  at  random  through  the  passages,  and  might  easily  be  destroyed 
by  them  in  their  movements.  If  thrown  into  a  panic  the  young  Larvae 
scurry  away  with  an  undulatory  movement  of  their  bodies,  but  the 
older  larvae  will  frequently  stop  at  the  nearest  intersecting  passage 
way  to  let  the  small  fry  pass, 
and  show  light  to  cover  their      ../"'"  -;^> ■-"'' 

rai  rent.  :f  v^cy^r^^'^^xC~y^^  * 

When    lull  grown  the  larva     \        ^^—^X^^ ■■•'-. J^ — 

excavates  a  eell  or  chamber 
into  which  it  retires  to  undergo 
its  transformations.  The  pupa 
cells  are  cut  parallel  with  the 
grain  of  the  wood  and  generally 
occur,  as  plainly  shown  in  fig. 
1,  in  groups  of  8  to  12  along 
some  of  the  deeper  passages. 

The  older  portions  of  the 
galleries  are  blackened  by  the 
long-continued  formation  of  the 
food  fungus. 

The  ambrosia  of  P.  compos- 
itus  is  represented  in  fig.  4. 
The  conidia  are  hemispherical, 
and  are  borne  in  clusters  upon 
branching  stems. 

The  species  of  Platypus  do 
not  attack  trees  in  health. 
They  are  attracted  only  by  the 
fermenting  sap  of  dying  or 
very  badly  injured  trees.  The 
death  rattle  is  not  more  ominous  of  dissolution  in  animals  than  the 
presence  of  these  beetles  in  standing  timber.  If  the  timber  attacked 
by  them  is  to  be  saved,  even  for  iirewood,  the  sooner  it  is  cut  down 
and  seasoned  the  better. 

The  family  Platypidae  are  essentially  tropical  insects:  they  abound 
in  Central  America.  Bnt  live  or  six  species,  all  belonging  to  the  genus 
Platypus,  range  northward  from  Mexico  and  enter  the  United  States. 
Three  species — 7\  compositus  Say,  P.  flavicornis  Fab.,  and  P.quadri- 
dentatus  01. — are  not  uncommon  in  the  Southern  States,  and  along  the 


Fig.  3.— Details  of  larva  of  Platypus  compngitus:  Fpper 
figure,  chitinous  ridges  upon  prothoracic  segment; 

middle  figure,  lower  lip  with  inner  jaws  (maxilla)); 
lower  figure,  mandibles  and  upper  lip — all  greatly  en- 
larged (original). 


16 

Atlantic  coast  to  Delaware  Bay.     Inland  they  do  not  extend  farther 
north  than  West  Virginia.     The  three  species  differ  only  in  minute 


•   — 

Fig.  4. — Ambrosia  of  Platypus  com%)ositus— greatly  enlarged  (original). 

details,  and  the  habits  are  the  same  in  all.     P.  compositus,  represented 
in  fig.  2  (upper  fig.),  is  perhaps  our  commonest  species. 

They  are  not  confined  to  any  particular  kind 
of  timber,  and  are  as  frequently  found  in  con- 
ifers as  in  deciduous  trees. 

THE    GKENUS   CORTHYLTJS. 

In  this  genus  the  form  is  short  and  stout,  the 
thorax  and  abdomen  are  almost  equal  in  size, 
so  that  the  body  appears  to  be  divided  in  the 
middle.  The  surface  is  smooth  and  shining; 
there  are  no  engraved  lines  or  rows  of  punc- 
tures upon  the  wing  cases,  and  the  color  is  a 
deep  black.  The  sexes  are  alike.  All  the  species 
attack  plants  which  are  in  perfect  health. 

Corthylus  punotatissimus  Zimm.  (fig.  5)  is  a 
very  common  species  in  the  forest  region  of  the 
Eastern  United  States.  It  attacks  and  kills 
shrubs  and  young  trees,  such  as  maple,  sassafras,  dogwood,  hazel, 
iron  wood,  etc.,  and  is  also  found  in  the  roots  of  huckleberry. 


Fig.  5. — Oorthylus  punctatissi 
mu8  (original). 


17 

The  galleries  are  made  in  the  root  and  lower  part  of  the  crown  of 
the  plant,  just  below  the  level  of  the  soil.  In  young  trees,  an  inch 
or  more  iii  diameter,  the  burrow  is  circular,  and  kills  the  plant  by 


Fig.  7.— Galleries  of  Oorthyhu  pune- 
tatisgimtu  in  huckleberry  roots- 
enlarged  (original). 


,,  and  in  them,  when 


The  system  some- 


:  ,<;y. t 

■  ■'     v\ 

[\  ■■"<:: 

(fee* 

Fig.  6.— Ambrosia  of  Corthylus  punetatissimu* :»a, 
detached  dumb-bell  shaped  pairs  of  cell— greatly 
enlarged  (original). 

girdling  it.      In  small  shrubs,  like  huckle- 
berry, the  galleries  are  spiral,  as  indicated 
diagrammatieally  in  tig.  7.    Short,  straight 
galleries  ascend  or  descend  from  the  primary   burrow,  following  the 
grain  of  the  wood.     These  are  occupied  by  the  young 
full  grown,  the  larvae  undergo  their  transformations 
times  includes  a  second  and  more  rarely  a 
third  circular  gallery.    Prof.  A.  D.  Hopkins 
states  that  in  sassafras  trees  of  considera- 
ble size  he  has  sometimes  found  their  gal- 
leries overgrown  by  the  annual  layers  and 
the  tree  unharmed. 

The  food  fungus,  taken  from  galleries  in 
roots  of  huckleberry  (  Gaylussacia  resinosa), 
is  sketched  in  fig.  C.  It  consists  of  a  con- 
fused mass  of  rather  large  conidiadieaped 
together  like  fish  roe.  The  cells  by  mutual 
pressure  lose  somewhat  their  spherical 
form.  Connecting  threads  are  sometimes 
discoverable,  and  attached  to  these  short 
and  thick  branches  which  give  rise  to  two 
or  three  spherical  conidia.  At  a  in  the 
figure  dumb  bell  shaped  pairs  of  these  cells 
shown  detached  from  the  mass.  The 
stain  of  the  fungus  is  intensely  blue-black, 
and  penetrates  the  wood  deeply. 

Hhylus  columbianus  Hopkins    tig.  8). — The  Columbian  timber  bee- 
tle is  somewhat   larger  than  the   preceding  >pe<ies.  which  it  otherwise 
167— No.  7 2 


S.—Oortkyhu   Columbian  "* 
I  (original). 


18 


resembles  very  closely.  Its  galleries  are  excavated  in  the  sap  wood  of 
perfectly  healthy  trees.  After  a  short  occupancy  they  are  abandoned 
by  the  beetles,  and,  being  overgrown  by  successive  annual  layers,  are 
ultimately  found  in  the  heartwood. 

According  to  Professor  Hopkins,  successive  generations  of  the  bee- 
tle make  their  galleries  in  the  same  tree,  not  materially  affecting  its 
vitality,  but  doing  serious  injury  to  the  quality  of  the  timber  by  filling 
it  with  defects.  The  galleries  of  this  species  fork  once  or  twice  soon 
after  entering  the  wood.  Fig.  9  shows  in  horizontal  section  a  gallery  in 
yellow  poplar.  The  branches  are  straight  and  nearly  parallel  when  the 
sapwood  has  a  thickness  of  several  inches,  but  when  the  sapwood  is 
thin  they  diverge  and  curve  more  or  less  to  avoid  entering  the  heart- 
wood.  The  larva3  are  raised  in  separate  brood  cells  or  cradles,  which  set 
off  from  the  main  gallery  at  a  considerable  angle,  as  shown  diagram- 
matically  in  fig.  9. 


\? 


Fig.  9.— Galleries  of  Corthylus  columbianus  in  Liriodendron,  with  diagram  of  brood  cells  (adapted 
from  drawings  by  A.  D.  Hopkins). 

The  number  of  young  raised  in  oak  or  beech  does  not  exceed  10  or 
12  to  a  colony.  In  colonies  from  yellow  poplar  (Liriodendron)  their 
number  is  somewhat  greater.  The  mature  beetles  probably  remain 
over  winter  in  the  galleries.  The  following  spring  they  issue  forth  and 
make  new  galleries  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  old.  The  food  fun- 
gus of  G.  columbianus  has  not  been  examined.  It  leaves,  however,  an 
intensely  black  stain  which  in  soft  wood  extends  with  the  grain  several 
feet  upward  and  downward  from  the  galleries.  Of  the  geographical 
distribution  of  this  recently  discovered  beetle  very  little  is  known.  All 
our  knowledge  of  its  habits  we  owe  to  the  studies  made  by  Professor 
Hopkins  in  West  Virginia.  He  has  also  observed  defects,  attributed 
to  this  species,  in  lumber  from  Michigan.  A  specimen  of  the  beetle 
was  found  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Sen  war  z  on  the  shore  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Va., 
and  a  specimen  in  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Ulke  bears  the  label  Massachu- 
setts. From  these  indications  it  may  be  surmised  that  the  species  is  as 
widely  distributed  as  C.  punctatissimus. 


19 


Fig.  10.—  Xyleboms.pubescens:  Female  and 
male— enlarged  (original). 


THE   GENUS    KYLEBOBUS. 

This  genus  embraces  a  large  number  of  species,  the  classification  of 
which  presents  great  difficulties,  and  is  at  present  in  much  confusion. 
The  females  in  some  groups  are  nearly  indistinguishable,  and  although 
the  males  present  recognizable  differences,  they  arc  in  most  of  the 
species  entirely  unknown.  The  males 
differ  remarkably  from  the  females; 
they  are  wingless,  and  often  very  much 
smaller.  They  are,  moreover,  much  less 
numerous  than  the  females,  and,  as  they 
seldom  leave  the  galleries  in  which  they 
were  born,  are  very  rarely  collected. 

The  "pubescens  "  group. — Fig.  10  repre- 
sents, respectively,  the  male  and  female 
Xy I chorus  pubescem  Zimm.  Under  this 
name  are  confused  the  females  of  sev- 
eral species  which  have  the  same  habits. 

A  solitary  female  starts  the  colony,  the  plan  of  which  is  given  in 
fig.  11.  The  branches  serve  as  brood  galleries,  and  in  each  are  depos- 
ited 5  or  G  oval  pearly  eggs.  The  young  hatch  out  within  a  week  and 
begin  at  once  to  feed  upon  the  ambrosia,  which  glistens  upon  the  walls 
like  hoarfrost.  The  pupa3  are  formed  lying  free  in  the  galleries,  aud 
\  in  somewhat  over  a 

month  from  the  egg 
the  perfect  beetles 
make  their  appear- 
ance. In  time  the 
colony  contains, 
besides  the  mother 
insect,  15  or  20  of 
her  offspring  which 
have  become  adult. 
Nearly  all  of  these 
will  be  females. 
Only  one  or  two 
males  are  commonly 
found  in  a  colony. 
The  males  fertilize 
their  brood  sisters 

Fig.  11.— Gallery  of  Xylebom  s  pubescens  in  orange— naturaLaize  (original),  witliin  the  Ciller- 
ies, and  by  them  a  second  generation  may  be  started.  But  usually  the 
seasoning  of  the  wood  and  the  threatening  failure  of  food  fungus  warn 
the  young  females  to  depart  and  seek  fresher  tree  trunks  in  which  to 
found  new  colonies. 
The  swarming  of  the  females  leaves  the  abandoned   males  in  sad 


20 


plight     Since  they  are  unable  to  consume  the  rapidly  ripening  ambro- 
sia, they  must  also  wander  forth,  although  wingless  and  weak  in  organi- 


Fig.  12— 


a  of  Xyleborus  pubescens  found  in  maple— greatly  enlarged  (original). 


zation,  or  perish  by  suffocation.    They  therefore  frequently  assemble 
in  certain  galleries  to  form  bachelor  colonies,  where,  by  their  combined 

numbers,  they  are  able  for  a  time  to  prolong 
their  existence.  They  are  found  sometimes, 
as  Eichhoff  relates,  to  the  number  of  50  or  60, 
packed  one  behind  the  other  in  a  single  gallery, 
/-s  The  ambrosia  of  X.  pubescens  has   short 

r  ft    D  branching  stems,  terminated  by  single  spher- 

ical conidia.  In  fig.  12  is  shown  a  form  from 
the  gallery  of  a  species  belonging  to  this 
group,  found  in  mapie.  Another  form  of  the 
fungus  is  given  in  fig.  13.  It  was  taken  from 
galleries  of  the  typical  species  in  orange  wood. 
A  brown  stain  accompanies  the  fungus  and 
discolors  it  at  the  base  of  each  cluster. 

A  number  of  females  which  can  not  at  pres- 
ent be  distinguished  from  X,  pubescens  Zimm. 
have  been  described  under  the  names  X  affin  is 
Eichh.,  X  perforans  Woll.,  X.  inermis  Eichh., 
X.  pint  Eichh.,  and  X.  propinquus  Eichh. 
The  names  X.  retusi colli s  and  X.  planicollis 
were  given  by  Zimmerman  and  LeConte  to 
two  males  which  belong  to  the  pnbcscens  group. 
The  species  of  this  group  inhabit  many  kinds  of  trees.    The  same 


h 


-i 


Fig.  13.— Ambrosia  of  Xf/lcborvs 
2)iibcscr»if  in  orauge— greatly  en- 
larged (orignal). 


21 


FlG.  14.— Xyleborus  perforans :  Female  and 
male— enlarged  (original). 


forms  which  are  found  in  the  orange  breed  also  in  pine  and  oak.  Their 
galleries  are  found  also  in  maple,  ash,  and  other  woods.  They  may  be 
driven  by  hunger  to  inflict  injuries  niton  healthy  trees,  but  it  is  only  in 
the  sapwood  of  dying  timber  that  they  succeed  in  establishing  them- 
selves and  in  raising  their  young. 

Certain  species  of  Xyleborns  have  been  found  to  injure  wine  and 
beer  casks,  into  the  staves  of  which  they  bore  for  the  purpose  of  rais- 
ing their  food  fungus.     It  is  doubtful  if  they  breed  in  such  situations. 
X.perforans  Woll.  causes  leakage  in  wine 
casks.    It  was  described  by  Wollaston 
from  the  Island  of  Madeira.     Mr.  F.  H. 
Blandford  has  identified  the  specimens 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum  with 
X.  affinis  Eichh.,  a  Xorth  American  spe- 
cies, but  his  determination,  made  from 
the   females  only,   cannot  be  reliable. 
The  same  species  is  said  by  Blandford 
to  cause  leakage  in  wine  and  ale  casks 
in  India  and  elsewhere. 

In  the  Southern  United  States,  leak- 
age of  wine  in  casks  is  occasioned  by  several  species  of  Xyleborns,  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  any  native  species  of  the  genus  may  be  the  author 
of  the  damage  in  moist  and  warm  climates. 

The  notorious  "shot  hole  borer,"  which  riddles  with  its  burrows  the 
joints  of  sugar  cane  and  causes  lamentable  injuries  in  West  Indian 

plantations,  is  supposed  by  Bland- 
ford to  be  identical  with  the  cask- 
borer,  X  perforans,  and  with  X. 
affinis. 

The  male  and  female  of  the  sugar- 
cane borer  are  represented  in  tig. 
14.  It  is  very  probably  a  distinct 
and  as  yet  unnamed  species,  the 
introduction  of  which  into  the  United 
States  is  greatly  to  be  feared.  It 
can  not  be  identical  with  X.  affinis, 
which  is  common  in  the  Southern 
States,  yet  has  never  been  known  to 
attack"  sugar  cane. 
Xyleborns  fuscatus  Eichh.  (fig.  15,  female  and  male). — This  species 
is  closely  allied  to  X  pubescenSj  and  is  frequently  associated  with  it  in 
the  same  galleries.  The  females  of  X,  fuscatus  are,  however,  readily 
distinguished  by  the  presence  at  the  end  of  the  elytra  of  two  promi- 
nent teeth,  which  are  surrounded  by  three  or  four  smaller  teeth  on  the 
edge  of  the  declivity.  All  other  females  of  the  pubescens  group  have 
three  rows  of  feeble  teeth  on  the  declivity  of  the  elytra,  with  three  or 


Fig.  15.— Xyleborus fuscatus :    Female   and 
male— enlarged  (original). 


22 


Fig.  16.— Xyleborus  dispar :  Male  and  female 
imagos— enlarged,  antenna  of  female  more 
enlarged  (original). 


four  teeth  in  each  row.    According  to  observations  made  by  Professor 
Hopkins  and  Mr.  Schwarz,  X.  planicollis  Ziinm.  is  pretty  certainly  the 

male  of  X.  /meatus. 

The  food  galleries  of 
this  species  are  excav- 
ated in  many  kinds  of 
trees  and  also  in  wine 
casks,  but  it  breeds 
chiefly  in  oak,  hick- 
ory, and  perhaps  other 
hard  woods. 

The  "dispar" group. — 
Three  species,  X.  dis- 
par Fab.  (pyri  Peck), 
X.  tachygraplius  Zimm., 
and    X.    obesus  Lee, 
exhibit  extreme  differ- 
ences between    the 
sexes.    The  males  are 
very     minute.      They 
have  the  thorax  nar- 
rowed  in    front    and 
the    form  excessively 
abbreviated,  so  that  it  becomes  oval  and  convex  long- 
itudinally. 
The  species  of  this  group  have  the  habit  of  making- 
circular    galleries    in   small 
branches  of   healthy    trees.     In  larger  tim- 
ber they  form  branching  galleries,  as  in  the 
pubescens  group. 

Xyleborus  dispar  Fab. 
(fig.  16)  is  an  extremely 
injurious  insect  both 
in  Europe  and  America. 
According  to  Eichhoff 
it  lives  in  almost  any 
kind  of  tree,  including 
conifers.  In  this  coun- 
try its  injuries  to  fruit 
trees  have  been  noted 
by  many  writers,  begin- 
ning with  Peck  in  1817, 
who  described  it,  under 
the  name  (X.)  pyri, 
as  destructive  to 
branches  of  pear  young 

Fig.  18.— Xyleborus  celsus:  Female  and  male— enlarged  (original).  * 

trees. 
In  fig.  17  is  shown  the  gallery  which  the  female  makes,  encircling  the 


Fig.  17.— Galleiy  of 
Xyleborus  dispar  in 
Liriodendron  twig: 
Upper  figure,  trans- 
versesection ;  lower 
figure,  longitudinal 
section  (after  Marx). 


f~>>- 


23 

pith  of  smaller  branches  of  fruit  trees,  and  the  perpendicular  brood 
chambers  which  ascend  or  descend  from  the  main  gallery  parallel  with 
the  grain  of  the  wood.  Branches  thus  girdled  are  killed  beyond  the 
point  of  attack,  and  the  trimming  of  the  trees  is  frequently  so  severe 
that  the  damage  is  attributed  to  lightning. 

Pear  and  apple  trees  suffer  from  its  attacks  from  Nova  Scotia  south- 
ward. It  also  girdles  and  kills  young  trees  of  many  kinds  which  have 
been  injured  by  fire.  Professor  Hopkins  reports  it  from  West  Vir- 
ginia in  hemlock,  oak,  etc.,  and  says  that  it  enters  the  sapwood  and 
heartwood  of  freshly  cut  logs  of  all  sorts. 

Xyleborus  tachygraphus  Ziinin.  is  a  rather  more  slender  species  than 


FlG.  19.-- Gallery  of  Xyleborus  celsua  in  hickory  (original). 


the  preceding.  It  has  been  found  by  Mr.  Schwarz  near  the  District 
of  Columbia  girdling  the  shoots  of  Liriodendron  in  the  same  way 
as  X.  dispaVj  and  Mr.  Chittenden  has  found  it  also  upon  box-elder, 
red-bud,  maple,  beech,  and  sumac.  It  ranges  from  New  Hampshire 
to  Xorth  Carolina,  but  has  not  been  found  wot  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains. 

Xyleborus  obesus  Lee.  is  not  readily  distinguished  from  .V.  dispar. 
According  to  Professor  Hopkins,  in  Wes.1  Virginia  it  inhabits  oak, 
beech,  hemlock,  etc.,  and  makes  Large  black  pinholes  in  the  greenwood 


24 


of  logs.     It  has  been  found  in  Ontario,  Canada,  in  freshly  out  maple 
stumps. 

Xyleborus  celsus  Eiclih.  (fig.  18,  female  an  dm  ale). — This  is  the  largest 
American  species  of  the  genus.  It  has  been  found  only  in  hickory 
trees.   The  galleries,  shown  in  fig.  19,  have  a  short  entrance  passage,  from 

the  end  of  which  numer- 


A.\ 


/- 


Fig.  20. 


-Ambrosia  of  Xyleborus  celsus— greatly  enlarged 
(original) . 


ous  branches  radiate  in 
a  nearly  horizontal  plane. 
They  penetrate  deeply  into 
the  heartwood  and  greatly 
promote  decay  in  the  tim- 
ber. The  galleries  are 
blackened  as  if  by  fire,  but 
the  stain  does  not  extend 
deeply  into  the  wood. 

The  ambrosia,  fig.  20, 
consists  of  club-shaped 
stems  growing  upright  in 
dense  clusters.  Thejoints 
are  long,  and  the  terminal 
conidia  when  they  separ- 
ate are  several  times  longer 
than  wide.  An  umber- 
brown  discoloration  tinges 
the  base  of  the  clustered 
stems,  but  their  termina- 
tions are  pellucid  and  filled  with  colorless  protoplasmic  granules. 

The  young  and  adults  of  the  beetles  live  socially  in  the  galleries  and 
the  pupse  are  formed  lying  free  in  the 
passages. 

The  male  of  X.  celsus  was  described 
by  LeOonte  under  the  name  of  X. 
biographies. 

Xyleborus  xylographus  Say  (=saxeseni 
Eatz.)  (fig.  21). — This  is  a  slender  elon- 
gate species,  which  can  be  distinguished 
from  all  others  by  the  very  regular  rows 
of  small  but  sharp  teeth  upon  the 
declivity  of  the  elytra. 

The  young  in  this  species  are  assem- 
bled in  a  brood  chamber,  the  usual  form  of  which  is  represented  in 
fig.  22.  It  is  constructed  at  the  end  of  a  gallery  which  penetrates 
deeply  into  the  heart,  or  remains  in  the  sapwood,  according  to  the 
amount  of  moisture  in  the  tree  trunk.  The  chamber  is  somewhat  leaf- 
shaped,  and  stands  vertically  on  edge,  parallel  with  the  grain  of  the 
wood.    The  space  between  the  walls  is  not  much  greater  than   the 


Fig.  21.— Xyleborus  xylographus:  Female 
and  male— enlarged  (original). 


25 

thickness  of  the  bodies  of  the  adult  beetles.  The  larvae  of  all  ages 
are  able  to  cling  to  the  vertical  walls,  and  to  progress  over  them  by 
an  adaptation  of  the  end  of  the  body  which  aids  them  in  progression. 
The  entire  surfaces  of  the  walls  in  the  brood  chamber  are  plastered 
over  with  ambrosia  fungus,  a  representation  of  which  is  given  in  fig.  23. 
It  consists  of  short  erect  steins,  terminating  in  spherical  conidia. 


Fig. 22.— Gallery  of  Xylcborus xylographus  iu  hickory:  a,  h,  death  chambers  (original). 

The  freshly  grown  fungus  is  as  colorless  as  crystal,  but  it  is  usually 
more  or  less  stained  with  greenish-yellow,  and  sometimes  resembles  a 
coating  of  sublinied  sulphur.  The  brood  chamber  is  packed  at  times 
with  eggs,  larvae,  pupa', 
and  adults  in  all  stages 
of  maturity.  The  larvae 
aid  in  extending  the  brood 
chamber.  They  swallow 
the  wood  which  they  re- 
move with  their  jaws, 
and  in  passing  through 
their  bodies  it  becomes 
stained  a  mustard- yellow 
color.  Great  quantities  of 
this  excrement  are  ejected 
from  the  openings  of  the 
colony,  but  a  portion  is 
retained  and  plastered 
upon  the  walls,  where  it 
serves  as  a  bed  upon  which  there  springs  up  a  new  crop  of  the  food 
fungus. 

In  populous  colonies  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  the  remains  of  individ- 
uals which  have  died  packed  away  in  a  deep  recess  of  the  brood  cham- 
ber and  carefully  inclosed  with  a  wall  of  chips  In  tig.  22,  at  a.  is 
shown  such  a  catacomb,  which   was   found  to  contain  the  mutilated 


Fio.  23.- 


Ambrosia  of  XyUbortu  xylographus—grb&Hj  enlarged 
ginal). 


26 

bodies  of  a  dozen  or  more  larvae  and  immature  imagoes,  together  with 
the  fragments  of  a  predatory  beetle,  Colydium  lineola  Say.  This  tomb 
bears  testimony  to  a  sanguinary  conflict,  in  which  victory  crowned  the 
efforts  of  the  ambrosia  eaters.  The  bodies  of  the  slain,  both  friend  and 
foe,  have  been  consigned  to  the  same  sepulcher.  In  the  same  figure,  at 
b7  is  shown  a  short  branch  gallery  containing  the  lifeless  body  of  the 
mother  of  the  colony,  who  appears  to  have  constructed  her  own  tomb 
and  to  have  crawled  into  it  as  she  ueared  her  end.  The  mouth  of  this 
tomb  also  has  been  sealed  up  by  the  survivors. 

Xyleborus  xylographus  breeds  only  in  dying  trees,  and  generally  in 
trunks  of  large  size.  It  appears  to  be  partial  to  rather  hard  woods, 
like  oak,  hickory,  beech,  and  maple,  and  is  found  wherever  these  trees 
grow,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  It  does  much  injury  to  tim- 
ber, and  in  cut  lumber  the  broad,  flat  chambers  produce  defects  which 
can  not  be  remedied  by  plugging. 


THE   GENUS  MONARTHRTJM. 

In  this  genus  the  sexes  are  alike,  and  the  males  assist  the  females  in 
forming  new  colonies.  The  young  are  raised  in  separate  pits  or  cradles, 
which  they  never  leave  until  they  reach  the  adult  stage.  The  galleries, 
constructed  by  the  mature  female  beetles,  extend  rather  deeply  into  the 
wood,  with  their  branches  mostly  in  a  horizontal  plane  (figs.  24  and  25). 


Fig.  24..— Gallery  of  Monarthrum  fasciatum  in  maple  (original). 

The  mother  beetle  deposits  her  eggs  singly  in  circular  pits  which  she 
excavates  in  the  gallery,  in  two  opposite  series,  parallel  with  the  grain 
of  the  wood.  The  eggs  are  loosely  packed  in  the  pits  with  chips  and 
material  taken  from  the  fungus  bed  which  she  has  previously  prepared 
in  the  vicinity  and  upon  which  the  ambrosia  has  begun  to  grow. 

The  young  larva',  as  soon  as  they  hatch  out,  eat  the  fungus  from 
these  chips  and  eject  the  refuse  from  their  cradles.  At  first  they  lie 
curled  up  in  the  pit  made  by  the  mother,  but  as  they  grow  larger,  with 


27 

their  own  jaws  tliey  deepen  their  cradles,  until,  at  full  growth,  they 
slightly  exceed  the  length  of  the  larva  when  fully  extended.  The  larvae 
swallow  the  wood  which  they  excavate,  bu1  do  not  digest  it.     It  passes 


°Go 


Fig.  23.— Gallery  of  M onarthrum  mali  in  maple  (original). 

through  the  intestines  unchanged  in  cellular  texture,  but  cemented  by 
the  excrement  into  pellets  and  stained  a  yellowish  color.  The  pellets 
of  excrement  are  not  allowed  by  the  larva1  to  accumulate  in  their  era- 
dies,  but  are  frequently  ejected  by  them  and  are  removed  and  cast  out 
of  the  mouth  of  the  borings  by 
the  mother  beetle.  A  portion 
of  the  excrement  is  evidently 
utilized  to  form  the  fungus 
garden  bed.  The  mother 
beetle  is  constantly  in  atten- 
dance upon  her  young  during 
the  period  of  their  develop- 
ment, and  guards  them  with 
jealous  care. 

The  mouth  of  each  cradle  is 
closed  with  a  plug  of  the  food 
fungus,  and  as  fast  as  this  is 
consumed  it  is  renewed  with 
fresh  material.  The  larva'  from 
time  to  time  perforate  this  plug 
and  clean  out  their  cells, push- 
ing oat  the  pellets  of  excrement 
through  the  opening.  This 
debris  is  promptly  removed 
by  the  mother  and  the  opening 
again  sealed  with  ambrosia.  The  young  transform  to  perfect  beetles 
before  leaving  their  cradles  and  emerging  into  the  galleries. 

The  ambrosia  of  Monarthrum  (fig.  26)  is  monjliform,  like  that  of  Cor- 
thylus,  and  resembles  a  mass  of  pearly  beads.     In  its  incipient  si 


Fio.26. 


-Ambrosia  of   Monarthrum   mali- 
larged  (original). 


.greatly  on- 


28 


a  formative  stem  is  seen,  which  Las  short  joints  that  become  globular 
conidia  and  break  npart.  Short  chains  of  cells,  sometimes  showing 
branches,  may  often  be  separated  from  the  mass.  The  base  of  the  fun- 
dus mass  is  stained  with  a  tinge  of  green,  but  the  stain  in  the  wood  is 
almost  black. 

Two  species,  Monarthrum  fasciatumS&y  (fig.  27)  and 
M.  mall  Fitch  (fig.  28),  are  confined  to  the  Atlantic 
forests  and  range  in  latitude  from 
Lake  Superior  to  Florida.  They 
have  identical  habits  and  feed  upon 
the  same  fungus.  They  are  com- 
monly associated  in  the  same  tree 
trunk,  and  not  seldom  occupy  gal- 
leries having  a  common  entrance 
hole.  Both  species  are  known  to 
attack  wine  casks,  but  they  proba- 
bly breed  only  in  dying  trees. 

The  trees  attacked  include  oak, 

hickory,  beech,  maple,  aspen,  apple, 

and  orange,  and  the  list  might  be  extended  to  include  hard-wood  timber. 

Monarthrum  scutellare  Lee.  and  M.  dentiger  Lee.  are  Western  species 

of  which  little  is  known,  except  that  they  have  been  found  in  oak  timber. 


Fig.  27.—  Monarthrum 
fasciatum— enlarged 
(original). 


Fig.  28.— Monarthrum 
mali—  enlarged  (origi- 
nal). 


THE  GENUS  XYLOTERUS. 


As  in  Monarthrum,  the  males  accompany  the  females  in  their  flight. 
The  young  are  raised  also 
in  separate  cradles. 

Xyloterus  bivittatus  Kirby 
(fig.  29)  is  common  in  con- 
iferous trees  from  Alaska 
to  Maine,  and  extending 
southward  in  mountainous 
regions.  It  i s  equally  com- 
mon in  Northern  Europe. 

Xyloterus politus  Say  (fig. 
30)  is  a  smaller,  smoother, 
and  unicolorous  species  in- 
festing the  sap  wood  of  de- 
ciduous as  well  as  of  con- 
iferous trees.  It  has  a  wide 
distribution  in  the  diver- 
sified forest  region  of  the 
Eastern  United  States.  Mr.  Schwarz  has  shown  that  its  attacks  may 
sometimes  prove  fatal  to  trees  not  in  vigorous  health.  It  is  a  dangerous 
enemy  to  smooth -barked  trees  whenever  they  become  weakened  by 
external  injuries  or  shaken  by  storms. 

Observations  made  upon  maple  trees  at  Washington,  D.  C,  show  that 


Fig.  29. — Xyloterus  bivittatus- 
enlarged  (original). 


Fig.  30. — Xyloterus  politus- 
enlarged  (original). 


29 


it  sometimes  fails  to  establish  colonies  in  such  trees,  through  inability 
to  raise  its  food  fungus. 

Xyloterus  retusus  Lee. — This  is  the  largest  of  the  ambrosia  beetles, 
and  resembles  very  closely  .V.  bivittatus,  which  has  been  illustrated  in 
fig.  29.  The  species  has  been  found  only  in  the  broad-toothed  aspen 
[PopuluB  grandidentata),  and  occurs  in  northern  regions,  following 
probably  the  distribution  of  that  tree.  Professor  Hopkins  records  it 
also  from  West  Virginia. 

The  galleries  of  this  species  are 
represented  in  fig.  31.  Several 
pairs  of  the  beetle  unite  in  col- 
onies having  a  single  entrance, 
but  each  family  occupies  its  own 
quarters,  consisting  of  one  or  two 
branch  galleries.  The  galleries 
do  not  penetrate  deeply  into  the 
heartwood. 

Each  female  attends  her  own 
brood,  which  are  raised  in  cra- 
dles extending  upward  and 
downward  at  right  angles  to  the 
main  passageway.  She  feeds  the 
young  with  a  yellowish  ambrosia 
grown  in  beds  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  cradles.  The  mouth 
of  each  cradle  is  constantly  kept 
filled  with  a  plug  of  the  food 
fungus. 

The  ambrosia,  represented  in 
fig.  32,  consists  of  oval  cells  which 
form  upright  sticks  resembling 
some  forms  of  sty liform  ambrosia, 
but  they  do  not  branch  and  are 
capable  of  being  broken  up  into 
bead-like  masses  without  losing 
their  vegetative  powers. 

Although  the  color  of  the  fun- 
gus bed  is  yellowish,  the  galler- 
ies are  stained  intensely  black. 

Xyloterus    scabrieollis    Lee. — 
This  is  a  rare  species  described  from  the  District  of  Columbia.     Pro- 
fessor Hopkins  records  it  as  infesting  pines  in  West  Virginia. 

In  Europe  a  number  of  species  of  Trypodendron,  the  generic  name 
being  synonymous  with  Xyloterus,  are  known  to  cause  defects  in 
timber  of  many  kinds,  including  oak  and  other  hard  woods.  Tiny 
push  their  galleries  deeply  into  the  heartwood  and  raise  their  young 
in  separate  cradles  in  the  manner  previously  described. 

According  to  Mr.  Blandford,  the  delects  caused  by  one  or  more  species 


Fig. 31. — Gallery  <>f  Xyloterus  r>-fusus  in  aspen 
(original). 


30 


of  this  genus  in  the  timber  from  which  casks  are  made  are  sometimes 
responsible  for  leakages  in  casks  imported  from  Europe  into  India. 

THE    GENUS    GNATHOTRICHUS. 

The  males  are  distinguished 
from  the  females  by  the  stronger 
development  of  tubercles  or 
teeth  at  the  end  of  the  body.  The 
young  are  raised  in  cradles,  as 
in  Monarthrum  and  Xyloterus. 

The  only  species  of  the  genus 
whose  habits  are  known  is 
Gnathotrichus  materiarius  Fitch 
(fig.    33), 


Fia.32. 


-Ambrosia  of  Xyloterus  retusus- 
larged  (original). 


-greatly  en- 

of    which 

Asa  Fitch  gave  a  brief  account  in  1857.  He  gave 
a  diagram  of  a  gallery,  which  shows  cradles  ex- 
tending upward  and  downward  parallel  with  the 
grain  of  the  wood.  His  specimens  were  found  in 
pine  wood.  Professor  Hopkins  also  enumerates 
this  species  in  his  catalogue  of  Scolytidse  of  West 
Virginia,  and  notes  that  it  causes  "bluing"  of  the 
wood,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  ambrosia- 
feeding  beetles.  He  has  prepared  a  careful  draw- 
ing of  the  gallery  from  which  the  accompanying 
figure  34  has  been  adapted.  There  are  two  other 
species  in  our  fauna,  of  which  little  is  known. 


Fig.  33.— Gnathotrichus  ma- 
teriarius (original ). 


Gnathotrichus  asperulus  Lee,  a  small  species  resembling  the  twig 


Fio.  34.— Gallery  of  Gnathotrichus  materiarius  in  pine  (adapted  from  an  unpublished  drawing  by  Prof. 

A.  D.  Hopkins.) 

borers  (Hypothenemus),  is  found  in  the  Eastern  United  States  and  is  a 
rare  insect. 

G.  retusus  Lee.  is  California!!.     All  the  species  live  in  pine  trees. 


GRASSHOPPER  REPORT  FOR  1895.1 
By  La\vi;].x<  e  Bruner,  Temporary  Field  Agent. 

Iii  accordance  with  instructions  I  proceeded  to  Colorado  on  the 
evening  of  July  15,  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Association  of 
American  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment  Stations  that  was 
held  at  Denver  July  16  to  18,  inclusive.  Here  I  was  enabled  to  meet 
and  converse  with  various  station  and  college  entomologists,  as  well  as 
other  persons  from  different  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
and  obtained  much  information  that  materially  aided  me  in  looking  up 
the  " locust  conditions''  over  the  West  and  Xorthwest  during  the  past 
six  weeks. 

During  my  attendance  at  these  meetings  several  excursions  were 
made  into  the  surrounding  country.  In  these  excursions  the  regions 
around  Denver,  Golden,  Fort  Collins,  and  some  of  the  neighboring 
towns  were  visited  while  examining  into  the  condition  of  the  outbreak 
of  "native"  locusts  or  grasshoppers  which  occurred  along  the  eastern 
foothills  of  the  Kockies  on  the  Platte  River  and  its  tributaries.  Of 
these  insects  observed  the  following  were  the  most  abundant:  Melano- 
plus  bii'ittatnSj  M.  atUtni.s,  M.fcedus,  M.  pacJcardi,  and  Dissosteira  longi- 
pennis.  All  of  these  had  been  known  before  as  destructive  in  one  or 
more  parts  of  the  United  States,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  Bulle- 
tin 28  (first  series)  of  the  Division  of  Entomology,  but  this  particular 
region  had  never  before  suffered  much  from  the  attacks  of  locusts,  save 
of  spr<  tns,  which  seems  to  be  almost  entirely  absent  from  the  region  the 
present  year.  In  fact,  few  specimens  of  it  were  seen  anywhere  over  the 
entire  area  covered  in  my  journeys  during  the  summer. 

While  the  injury  caused  by  these  '•native"  locusts  has  been  com- 
paratively light  the  present  year  when  we  remember  the  ravages  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  locust  in  years  gone  by.  sufficient  lias  been  done  by 
them  to  warrant  decisive  action  on  the  part  of  settlers  in  the  counties 
of  Douglas.  Elbert,  I  knit.  Jefferson.  Arapahoe.  Moulder,  Weld,  and  Lari- 
mer. In  these  counties  only,  so  far  as  could  be  ascertained  by  riding 
over  the  State  and  by  inquiry  at  the  office  of  the  State  board  of  horti- 
culture, the  secretary  of  which  lias  charge  of  matters  relating  to  insect 


•Kex>ort  made  in  accordance  with  letter  ot'  instruction  from  the   Entomoli 
dated  July  5,  1895. 

31 


32 

and  other  fruit  pests,  do  these  locusts  appear  to  be  present  in  abnormal 
numbers. 

Just  how  long  they  have  been  on  the  increase,  and  to  what  cause  or 
combination  of  causes  this  increase  should  be  attributed  at  this  time, 
was  not  learned.  Out  on  the  plains  away  from  the  foothills  and  the 
irrigating  ditches  the  large  species  mentioned  in  Bulletin  28  as  the 
" long-winged  locust  of  the  plains"  (Dissosteira  longipennis)  seemed  to 
be  the  characteristic  form.  The  Melanoplus  fcedus  was  also  quite  abun- 
dant there.  Near  Denver  M.  fcedus,  M.  atlanis,  and  M.  bivittatus  were 
the  forms  concerned  in  the  devastating  work.  At  Fort  Collins  only  if. 
bivittatus  seemed  to  be  present  in  unusually  large  numbers,  while  farther 
east  and  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  mountains  M.  fcedus  and  M. 
at  1  (otis  became  equally  numerous. 

In  this  Colorado  region  of  locust  abundance  the  pest  may  be  on  the 
decline,  since  at  one  point  at  least  large  numbers  of  them  were  destroyed 
by  the  fungous  disease  known  as  JEmpusa  gryllce.  The  good  effects  of 
this  disease  were  especially  marked  in  the  vicinity  of  Brighton  and  the 
neighboring  towns  along  the  Platte  Biver  between  Denver  and  Greeley. 
At  other  points,  however,  the  disease  was  not  found,  and  the  grasshop- 
pers seemed  quite  healthy  and  remarkably  free  from  natural  enemies  of 
all  kinds. 

The  hopper-dozers  could  be  used  to  very  good  advantage  over  most 
of  the  region  embraced  in  the  above-mentioned  locust  area,  and  this 
remedy  was  urged  as  the  most  expeditious  as  well  as  economical  means 
for  ridding  the  region  of  the  pest.  The  large  alfalfa  fields  and  edges  of 
irrigating  ditches  seem  to  have  been  the  breeding  j)laces  for  the  various 
Melanopli,  while  the  stony  hillsides  furnished  a  suitable  place  for  the 
increase  of  Dissosteira  longipennis  and  several  other  barren-ground 
species.  The  heavy  rains  and  consequent  rank  growth  of  vegetation 
on  the  plains  has  been  the  direct  cause  for  the  u  bunching"  and  more 
recently  for  the  eastward  and  northward  spreading  of  the  long- winged 
species  (see  Bull.  28,  p.  38).  From  recent  reports  received  from  various 
localities  in  Colorado  and  Nebraska  it  seems  that  this  insect  has 
appeared  over  a  large  portion  of  both  States.  It  has  even  reached  as 
far  as  the  eastern  boundary  of  Nebraska  in  considerable  numbers. 

To  the  northward  of  this  region,  between  Cheyenne,  Wyo.,  and  Orino 
Junction,  Wyo.,  where  locusts  of  various  species  are  usually  quite 
abundant,  and  where  a  few  forms  were  reported  as  uncommonly  abun- 
dant during  the  summers  of  1893  and  1894,  this  year  but  very  few  were 
found.  A  ranchman,  who  lives  in  the  vicinity  of  Wheatland,  informed 
me  that  the  early  opening  of  spring,  followed  by  a  series  of  cold  rains 
during  the  months  of  May  and  June,  had  killed  the  young  locusts  off 
before  they  had  a  chance  to  do  any  injury.  Be  this  true  or  not,  there 
were  scarcely  any  locusts  to  be  found  when  I  visited  the  region  the 
last  of  'July. 

Going  west  from  Cheyenne,  a  stop  was  made  at  Laramie  City,  from 


33 

which  point  a  drive  of  30  miles  brought  me  to  the  Centennial  Valley, 
which  lies  to  the  westward  of  that  town,  near  to  the  headwaters  of  the 
Little  Laramie  liiver.  Here  Gamnula  pellucida  was  quite  abundant  on 
some  meadows,  but  none  of  the  other  species  were  present  even  in  mod- 
erate numbers.  No  immediate  danger  need  be  anticipated  from  G, 
pellucida  at  this  point.  It  and  Melanoplus  atlanis  were  also  moderately 
common  in  and  about  Laramie  City. 

Through  inquiries  made  at  the  University  of  Wyoming  it  was  learned 
that  but  few 'hoppers  were  reported  from  Wyoming  points,  save  in  the 
region  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  where  a  species  of  Anabrua  was 
very  abundant  and  did  some  injury  to  crops  and  garden  plants.  This 
insect  was  present  in  force  both  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin  and  on  the 
eastern  slopes  of  the  mountains  bearing  the  same  name.  Specimens 
were  seen  by  me  that  were  taken  at  Lander  and  at  Sheridan. 

Locusts  in  rather  large  numbers  were  observed  along  the  railroad 
between  Wasatch  and  Echo,  a  few  just  before  reaching  Ogden,  and 
larger  numbers  north  of  Ogden  and  before  Brigham  City  was  reached. 
The  most  numerous  species  were  J[.  bivittatus  and  M.  atlanis,  although 
in  some  haylields  Gamnula  pellucida  was  present  in  more  than  ordinary 
force. 

Fpon  arriving  at  Logan  it  was  found  that  the  greater  part  of  Cache 
Valley  was  more  or  less  overrun  by  locusts.  At  the  agricultural  col- 
lege and  experiment  station  some  attention  was  being  given  to  their 
destruction  and  study.  Here  nearly  all  of  the  commoner  species  were 
unusually  abundant.  Even  Dissostcira  Carolina,  ova  common  "dnsty 
road"  grasshopper  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  United  States,  was 
present  in  numbers  sufficiently  great  to  do  not  a  little  damage  to  culti- 
vated crops.  Some  wheat  fields  between  Men  don  and  Cache  Junction 
seemed  almost  to  swarm  with  them  as  they  arose  and  flitted  out  of  the 
way  of  the  moving  train.  The  other  species  of  locusts  most  abundant 
in  this  particular  region  were  M\  bivittatus,  M.  /(edits,  M.  atlanis,  M. 
femur-rubrum,  Gamnula  pellucida,  Dissosteira  obliterata,  ami  Arphia 
tenebrosa. 

Judging  from  the  large  numbers  of  locusts  of  all  sizes  that  had  been 
and  were  being  destroyed  by  the  Empusa  grylke,  as  well  as  by  several 
species  of  dipterous  parasites,  I  imagine  that  the  plague  in  the  ('ache 
Valley  is  on  the  decline.  Nevertheless,  it  would  be  well  to  be  prepared 
to  use  artificial  remedies  for  their  destruction  in  the  near  future. 

During  my  sojourn  at  Logan  two  of  the  field  agents  of  the  Division 
of  Botany  visited  this  region,  from  whom  it  was  learned  that  locusts 
were  nowhere  abundant  in  the  parts  of  Montana  where  they  had  been. 
Since  these  gentlemen  are  both  good  observers,  I  am  fairly  confident 
that  the  valleys  of  the  Madison,  Jefferson,  Gallatin,  etc.,  are  pretty  free 
from  these  insects. 

Prom  the  Cache  Valley  I  next  went  to  Pocatello,  Idaho,  where  no 
indications  of  locusts,  even  in  ordinary  numbers,  were  found.     As  near 

8967— No.  7 :\ 


34 

as  could  be  learned  through  inquiry,  the  vicinities  of  Shoshone,  Belview, 
Bailey,  Ketchum,  Boise,  etc.,  are  quite  free  from  locusts  at  this  time. 
Not  so,  however,  as  regards  the  large  Anabrus.  Much  trouble  is 
reported  to  have  occurred  over  a  considerable  i)ortion  of  south  Idaho, 
its  droves  having  done  much  damage  to  crops  and  garden  plants.  No 
stop  was  made  to  investigate  these  crickets,  since  it  was  already  too 
late  in  the  season  for  such  investigations. 

At  no  point  in  Oregon,  and  not  until  Wallawalla  in  Washington  had 
been  reached  and  passed,  did  we  perceive  further  indications  of  locust 
injuries.  All  along  the  Snake  River  and  from  there  to  Colfax,  Pullman, 
Moscow,  Lewiston,  and  Waha  more  or  less  injury  had  been  done,  and 
in  many  places  was  still  being  committed.  Among  the  species  observed 
in  this  region  at  different  points  were  M.  femoratus,  M.  fcedus,  M. 
atlaniSj  Camnula  pellucida,  and  Dissosteira  obliterata.  Each  of  these 
was  present  in  abnormal  numbers,  but  only,  perhaps,  on  account  of 
their  having  gathered  at  certain  points  from  the  surrounding  pasture, 
where  no  vegetation  remained. 

A  careful  study  of  the  situation  in  the  area  embraced  by  this  some- 
what local  locust  outbreak  would  seem  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the 
present  year  was  one  of  unusual  drought  for  this  part  of  the  country. 
The  grass  on  the  hillsides  and  in  pastures  was  consequently  scanter 
and  shorter  than  ordinarily,  hence  was  sooner  grazed  off  by  stock, 
aided  by  somewhat  augmented  numbers  of  'hoppers.  The  latter  then 
moved  toward  cultivated  grounds,  where  they  gathered  and  injured 
both  grain  and  fruit  trees.  While  no  one  district  was  completely  devas- 
tated by  the  insects,  taking  the  region  as  a  whole,  much  damage  was 
done.  In  a  number  of  places,  more  especially  along  Snake  River,  where 
there  is  still  much  cultivated  ground  among  the  adjoining  hills,  large 
numbers  of  fruit  trees  were  completely  defoliated,  while  the  fruit  with 
which  they  were  laden  was  still  immature.  Some  of  these  defoliated 
trees  early  in  the  season  put  out  new  leaves,  but  those  that  suffered 
the  loss  of  foliage  later  and  those  very  full  of  fruit  were  still  bare  at 
the  time  I  was  in  the  country.  Of  course  such  loss  of  leaves  will  injure 
the  trees  in  addition  to  the  loss  of  the  fruit  crop  for  the  year. 

The  outlook  for  this  region  in  the  near  future,  to  my  mind,  is  not  as 
encouraging  as  I  would  wish  it  to  be. 

The  pest  appears  to  be  on  the  increase  rather  than  on  the  decrease. 
No  disease  was  found  among  the  'hoppers  in  any  of  the  districts  visited 
by  me,  nor  had  any  of  the  persons  with  whom  I  conversed  on  the  sub- 
ject observed  any  such  attack.  True,  many  dipterous  parasites  were 
found  attacking  the  locusts  at  all  points,  as  were  also  predaceous  insects, 
birds,  and  other  natural  enemies.  These  working  alone,  however,  would 
haidly  be  sufficient  to  entirely  check  the  increase  of  the  plague  should 
climatic  conditions  prove  favorable  for  their  development  the  coming 
year.  Then,  too,  the  very  rough  nature  of  the  country  where  the  locusts 
have  bred  would  preclude  the  use  of  the  kerosene  pans  or  hopperdozers 


35 

in  their  destruction  while  small  and  before  they  entered  the  fields,  either 
on  the  uplands  or  in  the  valley.  Plowing  and  other  ordinary  methods 
employed  in  the  destruction  of  their  eggs  could  not  be  employed  to  any 
great  extent  either,  on  account  of  the  very  rocky  nature  of  tlie  ground 
and  excessively  steep  hillsides  where  these  are  placed.  Should  I  he  pest 
appear  in  force  next  spring  no  doubt  sonic  Inexpensive  and  effective 
remedy  could  be  found  by  a  person  on  the  ground,  but  at  present  1  can 
think  of  none  to  suggest. 

In  closing,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  have  no  apprehension  of  an  invasion 
from  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust  at  any  point  in  the  near  future.  There 
may  and  undoubtedly  will  be  local  outbreaks  of  various  ••  native"  >\>c 
cies  of  locusts  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  both  in  the  Hast  and 
West.  The  only  way,  therefore,  to  protect  ourselves  from  these  is  to 
attack  them  vigorously  and  in  time. 


GRASSHOPPER  REPORT  FOR  1896. 
By  Lawrence  Buhner,  Temporary  Field  J  gent. 

In  accordance  with  my  commission  and  instructions  dated  July  30,  I 
have  investigated  the  condition  of  the  locust  or  grasshopper  plague  in 
Nebraska  and  adjoining  States,  and  report  as  follows: 

Early  in  June  reports  of  grasshopper  injury  began  to  come  to  the 
University  of  Nebraska  through  correspondents  living  in  various  sec- 
tions of  the  State  along  its  south  central  portion.  These  reports  were 
received  by  both  the  United  States  weather  observer,  who  is  located 
here,  and  by  the  writer.  At  first  the  reports  were  few  and  scattered, 
but  about  the  time  small  grain  began  heading  they  became  much  more 
frequent,  so  numerous,  in  fact,  that  the  writer  felt  called  upon  to  issue 
a  press  bulletin  upon  the  subject. 

At  this  time — i.  e.,  quite  early  in  the  season — it  was  thought  by  the 
authorities  at  the  University  of  Nebraska  that  these  locusts  were 
simply  several  of  our  native  species  that  had  become  abnormally 
abundant  in  these  localities  on  account  of  the  protracted  drought.  A 
little  later,  when  specimens  of  the  insects  in  question  were  received  in 
response  to  requests  sent  out  by  the  writer,  it  was  found  that  a  large 
percentage  of  them  were  the  much-dreaded  Rocky  Mountain  or  migra- 
tory locust,  Melanoplus  spretus.  This,  of  course,  at  once  aroused  the 
farmers  of  the  infested  region,  who  had  already  suffered  the  loss  of  two 
or  three  consecutive  crops  on  account  of  the  drought. 

A  little  later  other  reports  were  received  from  correspondents  located 
in  the  extreme  western  part  of  the  State,  north  of  the  Platte  River. 
These  latter  stated  that  the 'hoppers  had  hatched  in  " countless  mil- 
lions," and  that  they  were  sweeping  everything  clean  as  they  went. 
The  specimens  accompanying  some  of  these  reports  showed  them  to  be 
the  long-winged  plains  locust  (Dissosreira  longipennis)  that  a  few  years 
ago  was  so  abnormally  abundant  in  eastern  Colorado  between  the  head- 
waters of  the  Republican  and  Arkansas  rivers. 

Additional  reports  of  locust  abundance  together  with  some  slight 
injuries  were  also  received  from  adjoining  portions  of  Kansas,  and  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  June  a  few  specimens  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
locust  began  to  be  observed  in  the  air  during  fair  days  when  the  wind 
was  southerly.  They  also  began  leaving  the  southern  counties  of 
Nebraska  during  the  last  week  of  that  month,  and  from  that  time  on 

36 


37 

till  early  August  they  could  frequently  be  seen  in  the  air  in  consider- 
able numbers.  Nearly  all  of  these  flights,  so  far  as  could  he  ascer- 
tained, were  toward  the  north  and  northeast,  the  remainder  being  south 
and  east,  but  of  little  consequence. 

The  region  over  which  this  insect  hatched,  while  quite  large,  did  not 
contain  very  many  of  them,  comparatively  speaking,  for  the  injuries 
were  restricted  to  isolated  districts,  and  even  hen1  not  all  of  the  fields 
suffered  to  the  same  extent.  The  injuries  were  in  no  case  complete,  as 
only  the  edges  of  fields  of  small  grain,  principally  oats,  suffered  from 
their  ravages. 

The  presence  of  this  insect  even  in  these  comparatively  small  num- 
bers was  a  complete  surprise  to  us  here  at  the  university,  since  not  a 
single  correspondent  had  mentioned  a  word  about  their  having  come 
into  the  country  and  laid  eggs  last  fall. 

After  having  carefully  gone  over  much  of  the  territory  embraced  in 
the  region  where  this  insect  hatched  the  present  year,  and  also  of  the 
surrounding  country,  I  do  not  apprehend  any  great  damage  from  it  the 
coming  year.  Judging  both  from  personal  observations  and  the  report  s 
of  others,  it  has  so  scattered  and  dwindled  that  it  may  not  even  be  heard 
from  next  year.  While  much  time  has  been  expended  by  me  in  travel 
and  correspondence  with  the  object  in  view  of  locating  any  possible 
swarms  of  this  insect  since  it  was  observed  in  flight,  none  have  been 
found.  The  only  conclusion,  then,  that  1  can  arrive  at  is  that  they  have 
scattered  as  suggested  above.  This  also  appears  to  be  the  only  region 
where  the  species  is  present  even  in  small  numbers,  since  none  were  seen 
by  me  in  Wyoming,  Colorado,  extreme  western  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
and  the  western  portion  of  the  Dakotas.  Inquiries  sent  to  Montana, 
Utah,  and  Idaho  also  failed  to  elicit  evidence  of  its  presence  in  these 
States. 

Several  other  species  of  locusts  were  found  to  be  destructive  in  both 
Nebraska  and  adjoining  States.  Among  these  were  the  following- 
named  forms:  The  lesser  migratory  (Melanoplux  atlanis),  the  red-legged 
{M.  femur -rubrum),  the  two-lined  (.1/.  bivittatus),  the  differential  (.1/. 
different  talis),  a  short-winged  form  (.1/.  lakinus)  that  for  the  first  time 
to  my  knowledge  has  shown  a  tendency  to  abnormal  increase,  and  the 
long-winged  plains  locust  (IHssosteira  longipennis). 

The  lesser  migratory  species  was  observed  in  portions  of  Colorado 
and  Kansas,  and  is  at  the  present  time  quite  plentiful  over  much  of  the 
eastern  hall*  of  Nebraska,  western  Iowa,  some  parts  of  South  Dakota, 
and  Minnesota.  Here  at  Lincoln  it  has  shown  a  tendency  toward 
migration  during  the  month  of  September.  Every  warm  tail-  day  a 
few  of  them  were  to  be  seen  in  the  air  even  at  considerable  heights, 
while  others  were  observed  to  voluntarily  get  up  and  fly  rather  long 
distances,  as  it'  bent  on  getting  away  from  the  locality.  Should  we 
Buffer  from  locust  depredations  in  this  immediate  vicinity  next  year,  I 

believe  it  would  be  due  to  the  work  of  atlanis  lather  than  that  of  any 
other  single  species  of  locust. 


38 

In  Colorado  and  parts  of  western  Kansas  this  insect  is  less  numerous 
than  arc  either  the  red-legged  or  two-lined  species,  hence  but  little  if 
any  above  normal.  Just  what  the  condition  is  in  those  portions  of 
Michigan  and  adjoining  States  I  can  not  say. 

The  red-legged  locust  is  and  has  been  fairly  common  in  very  nearly 
the  same  localities  as  the  preceding.  It  is  less  liable  to  be  harmful  in 
the  immediate  future,  since  it  does  not  possess  the  migratory  habit  in 
a  sufficient  degree  to  be  of  much  practical  aid  to  it  in  escaping  unfavor- 
able conditions. 

The  two-lined  and  differential  locusts  were  present  in  destructive 
numbers  over  a  considerable  area  in  Colorado  and  western  Kansas. 
The  former  was  the  chief  depredator  along  the  base  of  the  mountains 
from  Denver  northward  nearly  to  Cheyenne,  Wyo.  The  latter  seemed 
to  preponderate  in  the  Arkansas  valley  of  eastern  Colorado  and  west- 
ern Kansas.  In  both  of  these  localities  the  plague  is  apparently  on 
the  decline,  if  the  reports  obtained  from  citizens  can  be  depended  on. 
Where  the  JEmpusa  grylhc  or  locust  fungus  attacked  them  last  year  they 
have  quite  noticeably  diminished  in  numbers,  though  they  are  still  pres- 
ent in  far  too  large  numbers  to  suit  those  who  must  stand  their  ravages 
or  else  fight  them  in  order  to  protect  crops. 

In  Colorado  Springs  and  the  immediate  vicinity  the Melanoplus  lakinus, 
a  short-winged  form,  seems  to  be  greatly  on  the  increase,  and  has  already 
passed  the  u  danger  line."  Its  inability  to  move  away  from  harm  to 
itself  may,  however,  soon  cause  its  decrease,  and  no  damage  result. 

The  only  remaining  species  of  locust  that  was  found  by  me  to  be 
harmful  this  year  is  Dissosteira  longipennis ;  and  from  the  fact  that  it 
actually  attacked  a  number  of  cultivated  plants  not  heretofore  reported 
as  being  included  in  its  bill  of  fare,  we  may  be  pardoned  if  we  are 
somewhat  apprehensive  concerning  it  as  to  the  future.  It  actually 
destroyed  entire  fields  of  small  grain,  some  corn,  potatoes,  and  a  num- 
ber of  garden  plants  in  the  vicinity  of  Lodge  Pole  and  Sidney,  where  I 
studied  it  during  the  month  of  July.  Although  it  still  seems  to  prefer 
the  grama  and  other  short  grasses  of  the  plains,  the  fact  that  it  has 
destroyed  the  above-named  cultivated  plants  would  indicate  that  it  is 
capable  of  harm  when  opportunities  for  so  doing  are  offered. 

It  now  occupies  portions  of  the  high  prairies  tying  between  the  upper 
Niobrara  and  North  Platte,  between  the  latter  and  the  South  Platte, 
between  this  and  the  Kepublican,  and  southward  to  beyond  the  Arkan- 
sas into  northeastern  New  Mexico.  It  extends  from  the  vicinity  of  the 
one  hundred  and  first  meridian  on  the  east  to  the  base  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains,  and  occasionally  drifts  eastward  with  the  winds  in  consider- 
able numbers  even  to  Lincoln,  Nebr. 

One  very  encouraging  feature  connected  with  this  insect,  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Sidney  at  least,  was  the  presence  in  large  numbers  of  a  peculiar 
long-legged  Tachina  fly  that  apparently  attacked  and  destroyed  many 
of  the  locusts.     So  numerous  was  this  fly  that  with  favoriug  circuin- 


39 

stances  it  must  soon  reduce  the  'hoppers  to  normal.  Other  Locust  ene- 
mies in  the  form  of  parasitic  and  predaceous  insects,  insectivorous  birds, 
reptiles,  and  mammals  were  also  quite  numerous  both  here  and  along 
the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  where  I  saw  swarms  of  this 
locust.  Just  where  the  eggs  have  been  laid  by  this  insect  during  the 
present  year  I  can  not  say,  but  that  large  areas  have  been  so  afflicted 
is  quite  certain. 

Of  one  fact  I  also  feel  certain,  viz,  that  unless  tillers  of  the  soil  very 
soon  allow  themselves  to  be  convinced  that  it  is  not  only  possible  to 
prevent  much  of  the  injury  caused  by  insect  pests,  but  just  as  necessary 
to  attempt  it  as  it  is  to  destroy  Aveeds,  they  may  be  obliged  to  pass 
through  other  grasshopper  plagues. 


SOME   INSECTS   AFFECTING   THE   HOP  PLANT. 

By  L.  O.  Howard. 

THE   HOP-PLANT   BORER. 

(Hych-cecia  immanis  Grt.) 

PREVIOUS   WRITINGS. 

Ill  the  annual  report  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Ontario  for 
1872,  Rev.  0.  J.  S.  Bethune,  on  page  33,  gave  a  detailed  description  of 
some  larvae  which  he  found  injuring  the  hop  plant  by  gnawing  the 
stems  at  the  ground.  Canadian  entomologists  from  time  to  time  tried 
to  identify  the  insect,  but  it  was  not  until  a  number  of  years  afterwards 
that  it  was  proved  to  be  Hydrcecia  immanis  Grote  (fig.  35). 

The  Canadian  Entomologist  for  1880-1882  (pp.  93-96)  contains  an 
article  by  Mr.  Charles  Richards  Dodge,  entitled  "  The  hop-vine  borer," 
in  which  he  gave  many  interesting  facts  derived  from  the  returns  of 

the  census  for  1879,  and 

fflfofoi        \.     1       1    y     T*f/j$  showed  an  annual  loss  in 

BW^^^oTL^^  New  York  State  alone  from 

\  this    insect    of    8600,000. 

Mr.  Dodge  expressed  his 
surprise  that  he  could  find 
little  or  nothing  "in  the 
books"  on  the  subject  of 
the  insect,  and  advanced 
the  opinion  that  the  insect 
was  new  and  undescribed. 
He  brought  together  in  his 
article  a  number  of  inter- 
esting notes  from  corre- 
spondents relative  to  the 
habits  of  the  species. 
At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Ontario, 
held  at  Montreal  in  connection  with  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  in  1882,  Prof.  J.  H.  Comstock  exhibited  speci- 
mens of  the  adult  insect  which  lie  had  succeeded  in  rearing  from  the 
"hop-grab,"  and  in  the  American  Agriculturist  for  June,  1883  (p.  275), 
he  published  an  account  of  the  insect  with  determination  of  the  species 
and  figures  of  the  larva,  pupa,  and  adult.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Daniel 
Flint,  in  the  Pacific  Rural  Press,  March  18,  1882,  gave  an  account  of 
the  insects  of  the  Western  hop  fields,  in  which  he  popularly  described 
this  species  and  gave  a  short  account  of  its  habits. 
•10 


Fig.  35.— Hydrocele/,  immanis:  a,  enlarged  segment  of  larvr 
b,  larva;  c,  pupa;  d,  adult— natural  size  (original). 


41 

In  1883  Dr.  J.  B.  Smith,  then  an  agent  of  this  Division,  in  a  report  od 
hop  insects  published  in  Bulletin  1,  first  series  of  this  Division,  gave  a 
somewhat  lengthy  account  of  the  species,  illustrated  by  three  fignres 
of  the  results  of  its  work. 

In  1885  Dr.  J.  A.  Lintner,  in  his  second  annual  report  as  State  ento- 
mologist of  New  York,  published  a  brief  article  on  the  species. 

Finally,  in  his  report  as  entomologist  and  botanist  to  the  experimen- 
tal farms  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  for  1892,  Dr.  .lames  Fletcher 
presented  an  article  on  the  species,  illustrated  by  an  excellent  figure 
of  the  adult  moth,  and  bringing  together  a  short  account  of  previous 
writings,  introducing  some  interesting  facts  from  certain  of  his  corre- 
spondents. Neither  Dr.  Fletcher  nor  Dr.  Lintner  was  acquainted  with 
Professor  Comstock's  American  Agriculturist  article. 

GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION. 

Hydrcecia  i m  main's  is  a  North  American  insect.  It  has  not  yet  made 
its  appearance  in  the  hop-growing  regions  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  although 
in  Smith's  Catalogue  of  the  Noctuida3  it  is  recorded  from  Washington. 
It  occurs  in  different  parts  of  Ontario,  abundantly  through  New  York, 
less  so  through  the  New  England  States,  and  south  to  the  District  of 
Columbia,  spreading  west  through  Wisconsin.  The  moth  has  fre- 
quently been  taken  at  light  in  Illinois  by  Professor  Wescott,  at  May- 
wood,  and  Mr.  Worthington,  at  Chicago,  and  is  recorded  by  Dr.  Smith 
from  Colorado.  Our  data  do  not  inform  us  as  to  any  wider  range,  but 
it  is  probable  that  it  is  a  northern  form,  and  confined,  as  it  seems  to 
be,  to  a  single  food-plant,  it  will  be  found  only  where  this  plant  is  known 
to  grow. 

NATURAL  HISTORY. 

From  full-grown  larvae  and  chrysalides  of  the  species  taken  in  hop 
fields  near  Utica,  N.  Y.,  by  Dr.  Smith  in  the  last  week  of  July,  1S83, 
we  reared  the  first  moth  on  August  8  of  the  same  year.  The  specimens 
originally  received  by  Mr.  Bethune  were  taken  June  27,  1868.  When 
received  the  majority  of  them  were  about  two-thirds  grown,  judging 
from  the  measurements  which  he  publishes.  Professor  Comstock's 
experience  with  the  insect  indicates  that  the  young  larva*  can  be  found 
early  in  May  working  in  the  young  shoots.  They  become  full  grown, 
he  says,  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  at  this  time  or  early  in  August 
they  transform  to  pupa3  in  the  ground  near  the  roots  which  they  have 
infested  in  their  later  stages.  According  to  this  author  the  pupa  state 
lasts  about  one  month,  which  would  bring  the  adult  insect  out  at  the  end 
of  August  or  the  first  of  September.  According  to  Dr.  Smith's  account 
in  Bulletin  No.  4  of  this  Division,  the  egg.  which  is  globular  in  shape 
and  about  the  size  of  a  pin-head  and  yellowish-green  in  color,  is  depos- 
ited by  the  female  upon  the  tip  of  the  hop  vine  when  it  begins  to  climb. 
The  young  lar\;e  are  slender  and  greenish  in  color,  spot  ted  with  black. 
They  bore  immediately  into  the  vine  just  below   the  tip.  and  remain  at 


42 

this  point  for  some  time.  The  vine  affected  in  this  way  almost  stops 
growing.  The  head  turns  downward,  and  no  longer  embraces  the  pole. 
Such  vines  are  called  " muffle  heads"  or  "stag  vines,'7  and  sometimes 
"  bullheads,"  by  the  growers,  and  the  larva  inhabiting  them  is  called  the 
"tip  worm." 

When  the  larva  is  about  half  an  inch  long  it  leaves  the  tip,  drops  to 
the  ground,  and  enters  the  stem  at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  feeding 
to  some  extent  upward  and  stopping  the  growth  of  the  vine.  It  is  now 
called  the  6i  collar  worm."  The  larva  changes  in  color  at  this  time  and 
becomes  dirty  white  with  a  reddish  tinge,  and  is  furnished,  as  shown  at 
fig.  35,  with  numerous  black  piliferous  spots.  It  begins  work  by  eating 
small  holes  in  the  side  of  the  stem  just  below  the  surface  of  the  ground 
and  just  below  the  old  root,  and  seems  to  nourish  itself  mainly  upon 
sap.  The  opening  is  gradually  enlarged  until  the  vine  is  nearly  or 
quite  severed  from  the  parent  root.  Toward  the  end  of  July  the  larva 
becomes  full  grown  and  is  then  nearly  2  inches  in  length.  It  is  stout  in 
shape,  dirty  white  in  color,  and  furnished  with  numerous  brown  elevated 
piliferous  spots,  arranged  as  shown  in  the  figure.  The  head,  cervical, 
and  anal  plates  are  dark  brown  in  color. 

Transformation  to  pupa  is  effected  in  a  rude  cell  close  to  the  roots  of 
the  plant.  According  to  Dr.  Smith,  the  majority  of  the  insects  pass 
the  winter  in  the  pupa  condition.  A  few  adults,  however,  appear  in 
the  fall.  Professor  Oomstock  states  that  the  pupa  stage  lasts  about 
a  month,  and  the  moths  make  their  appearance  in  the  latter  part  of 
August  or  September.  He  considers  it  probable  that  these  moths 
hibernate.  Dr.  Fletcher  says  the  pupa  state  lasts  from  five  to  seven 
weeks,  and  that  the  moths  are  found  on  the  wing  during  September 
aud  October.  He  further  says  that  they  pass  the  winter  in  a  torpid 
state,  probably  beneath  refuse  and  rubbish.  Several  specimens,  which 
he  kept  alive  in  a  breeding  cage,  remained  constantly  on  the  bottom 
and  took  advantage  of  any  small  object  to  hide  beneath  it.  According 
to  the  observations  of  Dr.  Lintner,  the  adult  insect  appears  in  the  late 
summer,  and  he  infers  hibernation  in  that  stage.  He  has  collected  it 
only  between  August  25  and  September  6.  Other  collectors  whom  he 
mentions  have  captured  the  adult  insect  between  August  15  and  Sep- 
tember 23. 

Dr.  Smith  therefore  states  that  hibernation  is  almost  universally  in 
the  pupa  stage,  and  all  other  authors  say  that  hibernation  in  the  adult 
state  is  the  rule.  The  moth  itself,  although  somewhat  inconspicuous  in 
general  appearance,  is  beautifully  marked  when  examined  closely.  The 
pattern  of  the  wing  markings  is  shown  in  fig.  35.  The  general  color  is 
a  rosy  brown,  paler  at  the  extremities  of  the  wings.  The  darker  cen- 
tral portion  is  shaded  with  dark  velvety  bronze  and  marked  with  two 
dull  yellow  spots.  The  fore  wings  are  divided  into  three  areas  by  nar- 
row oblique  transverse  lines,  edged  outwardly  with  pink.  The  hind 
wings  are  paler  in  color,  crossed  in  the  middle  by  a  slightly  darker  line. 


43 

The  male  moth  (which  is  the  sex  shown  in  the  figure)  is  distinguished 
from  the  female  by  its  narrow  abdomen  and  by  a  conspicuous  fan  shaped 
brush  of  scales  at  its  tip. 

NATURAL   ENEMIES. 

In  the  way  of  natural  enemies  the  hop-vine  borer  has  but  few.  The 
skunk  is  spoken  of  in  all  articles  upon  this  insect  as  ;i  mosl  efficient 
insecticide.  Dr.  Smith  stated  that  in  every  yard  in  which  the  grubs 
were  common  and  where  there  were  convenient  hiding  and  breeding 
places  tor  skunks  traces  of  their  presence  could  be  seen  in  the  tunnels 
made  by  the  sharp  snout  of  the  animal  in  its  search  for  the  tat  larva-. 
In  the  spring  he  noticed  large  numbers  of  young  larva',  but  when  in 
duly  he  went  to  gather  full-grown  larva'  and  pupae  he  found  that  the 
skunks  had  preceded  him  everywhere  and  that  it  was  only  with  some 
difficulty  that  he  secured  a  few  specimens.  Later  he  requested  a  grower 
to  send  him  some  and  received  answer  that  none  could  be  found.  The 
census  correspondence,  according'  to  Mr.  Dodge,  made  frequent  men- 
tion of  the  agency  of  this  odoriferous  animal.  Certain  growers  were  in 
the  habit  of  leaving  the  skunks  to  carry  on  the  warfare  alone,  while 
one  grower  living  in  Juneau  County,  Wis.,  wrote  that  he  had  seen  H> 
acres  of  hops  where  not  a  dozen  hills  had  escaped  the  visits  of  the  skunk. 

Dr.  Smith  noticed  the  larva  of  a  carabid  beetle  feeding  upon  the 
young  larva*  at  the  time  when  they  descend  to  the  ground;  but  other 
natural  enemies  have  not  been  observed,  according  to  published  account. 
Our  notes,  however,  show  that  2  Jarva*  received  from  Dr.  Smith  July 
28,  1883,  were  dead  and  appeared  to  be  parasitized,  but  none  of  the 
adult  parasites  were  reared. 

REMEDIES. 

There  is  little  to  be  said  in  the  way  of  remedies  that  is  not  already 
known  to  experienced  hop  growers,  although  as  a  matter  of  fact  many 
of  the  census  returns  of  1880  stated,  according  to  Mr.  Dodge,  that  no 
remedy  is  possible.  The  fact  that  the  og^  hatch  and  the  young  tip 
worms  enter  the  tip  shoot  just  as  the  vines  are  beginning  to  climb  ren- 
ders it  easy  for  experienced  tiers  to  kill  them  by  hand  as  they  go 
through  the  field  tying  the  vines  to  poles.  An  affected  vine  is  readily 
recognized,  and  a  pinch  of  the  thumb  and  linger  ends  forever  the  work 
of  the  young  larva. 

The  short  period  in  which  the  worm  works  in  the  tip,  however,  ren- 
ders it  probable  that  many  will  escape  this  simple  process  before  the 
held  is  all  gone  over  and  will  drop  to  the  ground  and  enter  the  base  of 
the  stem.  At  this  stage  remedial  work  is  difficult.  Mr.  -I.  P.  Clark, 
of  Otsego  County.  N.  Y.,  recommends  that  when  the  vines  are  well  up 
the  poles  and  at  the  first  hoeing  the  dirt  should  be  carefully  worked 
away  from  the  vines  by  the  hoe.  All  dirt  remaining  between  the 
vines  should  be  carefully  worked  out  witli  a  sharpened  stick  so  that  all 
of  the  vines  will  be  left  bare  as  low  down  as  the  point  where  they  leave 


44 

the  bedroot.  These  become  toughened  by  the  weather  and  are  not  so 
attractive  to  the  grub.  Immediately  after  this  operation  a  good  hand- 
ful of  a  composite,  consisting  of  equal  parts  of  salt,  quicklime,  and  hen 
manure,  mixed  while  slacking  the  lime  and  left  standing  for  two  weeks, 
should  be  placed  about  each  vine  root.  The  hops  should  never  be  hilled 
until  the  latter  part  of  July  or  first  of  August. 

Dr.  Smith  recommends  the  search  for  and  destruction  of  pupaB  in 
the  spring,  but,  as  it  appears  that  pupal  hibernation  may  not  be  nor- 
mal, this  proposed  remedy  can  not  be  taken  into  account.  A  remedy 
which  has  generally  been  adopted  is  high  hilling  and  fertilizing,  which 
induces  the  putting  out  of  rootlets  above  the  main  root,  enabling  the 
vines  to  derive  nourishment  through  this  channel  where  the  stem  has 
been  gnawed  below.  Certain  of  the  Canadian  correspondents  of  Dr. 
Fletcher  are  in  the  habit  of  placing  the  remains  of  a  kind  of  herring 
which  is  thrown  up  in  large  quantities  on  the  lake  shore  about  the 
roots  of  the  hops.  This,  it  seems,  is  an  excellent  fertilizer  and  pre- 
vents the  attacks  of  the  collar  worm.  Dr.  Fletcher  is  of  the  opinion 
that  the  virtue  of  the  fish  as  a  preventative  is  due  chiefly  to  the  offen- 
sive odor  of  the  putrefying  body  at  the  time  when  the  young  fall  to  the 
ground  to  attack  the  root. 


m 


THE  HOP- VINE   SNOUT-MOTH. 

(Hypena  humuli  Harr.) 

PREVIOUS  WRITINGS. 

Dr.  T.  W.  Harris  gave  the  name  Crambus  humuli  to  this  insect  in  his 
Catalogue  of  the  Insects  of  Massachusetts  (p.  174).    In  his  treatise  on 

the  Insects  Injurious  to  Vegeta- 
tion (Flint  edition,  pp.  476-478) 
he  gave  some  account  of  the 
method  of  work  of  the  larva, 
and  stated  that  in  Massachu- 
setts there  are  two  annual  gen- 
erations, the  caterpillars  of  the 
first  brood  appearing  in  May 
and  June,  and  transforming  to 
moths  by  the  end  of  June  and 
early  part  of  July,  those  of  the 
second  brood  appearing  in  July 
and  August  and  transforming  to 
moths  in  September.  He  con- 
sidered the  insect  distinct  from 
the  congeneric  hop-vine  moth  of 
Europe,  Hypena  rostralis,  an  in- 
sect which  has  precisely  the  same  habits  and  is  also  two-brooded  in  Ger- 
many, according  to  Kaltenbach.  Harris's  account  is  illustrated  by  a 
rather  poor  figure  of  the  adult  moth. 


~Fia.36.—7ryj)e.na  humuli:  a,  egg;  b,  larva;  c,  segment 
of  sunn';  d,  pupa;  e,  ereinaster  of  same;  /,  adult— 
a,  c,  r,  greatly  enlarged,  other  figures  slightly  en- 


larged (original). 


45 

In  his  second  report  on  the  insects  of  New  York  (1856)  Dr.  Asa  Pitch 
gave  a  somewhat  lengthy  account  of  the  species  upon  pages 323-327  of 
the  special  edition.  The  larva  of  Bypena  he  considers  to  be  the  most 
universal  and  formidable  of  the  hop  insects,  making  its  appearance 
suddenly,  and  sometimes  in  a  few  days  completely  riddling  and  destroy- 
ing the  leaves  of  whole  lields.  He  says  the  worms  begin  to  appear  on 
the  leaves  as  early  as  the  fore  part  of  June,  when  the  vines  are  rapidly 
climbing  the  poles,  and  secrete  themselves  in  the  denser  foliage  near 
the  ground.  He  rather  doubted  the  distinctness  of  the  species  from 
the  European  form,  and  published  a  rather  poor  figure  of  the  adult  at 
figure  1  of  Plate  I. 

In  his  account  of  the  insects  affecting  the  hop  vine  in  the  annual 
report  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Ontario  for  L872,  the  Rev. 
C.  J.  S.  Bethuue,  upon  pages  30-31,  gives  a  brief  history  of  the  species, 
illustrated  by  figures  of  the  larva,  pupa,  and  adult.  The  life  history 
coincides  with  that  given  by  Harris,  and  the  author  further  states  that 
the  insect  is  frequently  excessively  destructive.  In  1869  he  observed 
two  hopyards  in  the  county  of  Peel  which  were  almost  ruined  by  it. 

In  a  little  pamplet  entitled  Hop  Culture,  published  by  the  Orange 
Judd  Company  in  1891,  written  by  the  late  A.  S.  Fuller,  this  insect 
is  briefly  treated  upon  page  5,  and  figures,  copied  from  Bethune,  of 
the  larva,  pupa,  and  moth  are  given. 

GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION. 

This  species  is  recorded  in  Smith's  Catalogue  from  Canada,  northern 
and  central  United  States,  south  to  Alabama,  west  to  Washington, 
Colorado  in  September  and  October;  British  Columbia,  M ay  to  July, 
September  and  October;  Delaware  in  August,  and  Kansas  in  April. 
Specimens  occur  in  the  Xational  Museum  collection  from  Schenectady, 
X.  V.:  Washington,  D.  C;  Iowa;  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  Bayou  Sara,  La.,  and 
Columbus,  Tex.  No  other  food  plant  than  hop  is  known,  and  the  insect 
therefore  follows  in  this  country  the  distribution  of  Hamulus.  In  the 
tenth  report  of  the  State  entomologist  of  Illinois  it  is  reported  by  Mr. 
1).  W.  Coquillett  as  feeding  upon  hop  in  that  State  and  as  living  in 
August  and  September. 

HABITS    AND   LIFE    HISTORY. 

The  habits  and  life  history  of  the  insect  as  first  published  by  Harris 
are  substantially  correct.  lie  states  that  the  caterpillars  are  false 
loopers,  bending  up  the  back  a  little  when  they  creep  for  the  reason 
that  the  first  pair  of  prologs  is  lacking.  The  body  rings  are  rather 
prominent,  and  they  are  of  a  green  color,  with  two  longitudinal  white 
lines  down  the  back,  a  dark  green  line  in  the  middle  between,  and  an 
indistinct  whitish  line  on  each  side  of  the  body.  The  head  is  green, 
spotted  with  black  piliierous  dots.  There  are  similar  piliferous  dots 
arranged  in  two  transverse  rows  on  each   segment.      When   disturbed, 


46 

they  jerk  their  bodies  from  side  to  side,  leaping  to  a  considerable  dis- 
tance. They  make  no  webs  on  the  leaves,  and  do  not  suspend  them- 
selves by  silken  threads,  like  true  measuring  worms.  When  full-grown, 
they  form  a  thin,  imperfect  silken  cocoon  within  a  folded  leaf  or  in  some 
crevice  or  sheltered  spot,  and  transform  to  a  brownish  chrysalis.  Three 
weeks  later  the  moths  issue.  There  are  two  broods,  as  stated  in  the 
first  paragraph  of  this  article.  Subsequent  accounts  have  added  but 
little  to  this  brief  history. 

According  to  Fitch,  Harris  is  incorrect  in  his  statement  that  the  cat- 
erpillars do  not  suspend  themselves  by  threads.  He  says  that  if  we 
carefully  look  at  an  infested  vine  some  specimens  will  almost  always  be 
seen  hanging  down  from  the  leaves.  Their  attachment,  however,  is 
slight,  and  on  the  least  agitation  of  the  leaf  the  caterpillar  lets  go  its 
hold  and  drops  to  the  ground,  wriggling  briskly  for  a  short  time  after 
touching  the  surface.  When  not  engaged  in  feeding,  he  states,  they 
repose  upon  the  under  surface  of  the  leaves  or  leaf  stalks,  stretching 
themselves  out  straight  and  appearing  more  slender  than  at  other  times. 
He  further  says  that  some  of  them  enter  the  loose  dirt  slightly  to  change 
to  pupae,  others  crawl  beneath  the  lumps  of  dirt,  while  still  others 
secrete  themselves  on  or  partly  beneath  the  leaves  lying  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground.  Moreover,  he  says,  they  do  not  inclose  themselves 
in  cocoons,  but  assume  the  pupa  state  by  throwing  off  their  larval 
skin.  He  follows  with  a  full  description  of  the  young  and  half-grown 
larvae. 

Concerning  the  method  of  pupation,  regarding  which  Fitch  and 
Harris  thus  differ  so  radically,  Dr.  Bethune  states  that  the  caterpillar 
descends  to  the  ground,  crawls  into  any  crevice  or  place  of  conceal- 
ment, and  forms  a  slight  silken  cocoon.  Mr.  Fuller  says  that  they  form 
a  loose  silken  cocoon  among  old  leaves  or  in  the  cracks  of  the  bark  on 
the  poles.  Mr.  Goquillett  says  that  they  enter  the  earth.  This  is  a 
most  peculiar  series  of  contradictory  statements,  and  from  the  charac- 
ter of  the  observers  we  can  only  surmise  that  all  are  correct,  and  that 
the  insect  may  pupate  in  the  leaves,  under  the  bark  of  the  poles,  and 
at  or  near  the  surface  of  the  earth.  That  it  spins  some  sort  of  silken 
cocoon  seems  very  certain,  in  spite  of  Fitch's  statement  to  the  contrary. 

Our  own  observations  have  been  reasonably  complete.  On  May  10, 
1887,  Mr.  Fergande  found  a  number  of  the  eggs  of  this  species  on  the 
lower  side  of  the  lower  leaves  of  the  hop  in  all  the  hopyards  about 
Richfield  Springs,  N.  Y.,  as  many  as  6  having  been  found  on  a  single 
leaf.  The  color  of  the  egg  is  pale  green.  In  shape  it  coincides  with 
fig.  31,  and  it  is  longitudinally  ribbed,  as  also  shown  in  the  figure.  We 
have  not  followed  out  this  first  brood,  but  early  in  August,  1883,  larvae 
were  found  very  abundantly  upon  a  hop  viDe  in  a  garden  in  Washing- 
ton. They  varied  in  size  from  less  than  half-grown  to  full-grown.  Upon 
August  15  several  had  transformed  to  pupae  in  slight  webs  with  which 
they  had  spun  together  the  leaves  of  the  food  plant  in  the  breeding  jar. 
Others  transformed  during  the  next  ten  days,  and  on  August  24  the 


47 

first  moths  made  their  appearance.  Between  August  24  and  August 
29,  12  moths  had  issued. 

The  method  of  hibernation  is  not  definitely  stated  by  any  of  tin- 
writers,  but  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  the  moths  pass  the  winter 
secreted  in  bark  crevices  and  fence  corners,  or  in  old  logs  and  stumps 
or  other  favorable  localities.  We  have  shown  the  insect  in  all  stages  al 
fig.  06.  The  larva,  as  above  stated,  has  been  carefully  described  by 
Fitch,  and  the  pupa  needs  no  especial  description,  the  ereinastral  char- 
acters being  indicated  at  e. 

Natural  enemies. — No  natural  enemies  have  been  recorded,  but  from 
our  1883  lot  of  larvae  we  reared,  on  September  f>,  a  Tachina  fly  to  which 
Mr.  Goquillett  has  given  the  manuscript  name  of  Exorista  hypence. 

Remedy. — An  arsenical  spray. 

IIOP  MERCHANTS. 

The  so-called  "hop  merchants"  are  insects  of  which  one  hears  a  great 
deal  in  the  hop  fields.  They  are  the  chrysalides  of  two  common  butter- 
flies, the  larva*  of  which,  although  feeding  upon  a  number  of  different  food 
plants,  are  particularly  partial  to  hops.  The  species  are  Polygonia  inter- 
rogationis  and  Polygonia  comma.  The  spiny  caterpillars  of  both  species 
occur  abundantly  in  the  fields,  feeding  upon  the  leaves,  and  the  chrys- 
alides into  which  they  transform  are  beautifully  marked  with  gold  or 
silver  spots,  which,  under  certain  conditions,  probably  through  para- 
sitism, become  suffused  and  give  a  general  golden  or  silver  tinge  to  the 
chrysalis.  An  interesting  superstition  holds  among  hop  growers  to  the 
effect  that  when  the  golden- spotted  chrysalides  are  plentiful  the  crop 
will  be  good  and  the  price  high,  while  if  the  silver- spotted  ones  are 
plentiful  and  the  golden-spotted  ones  are  scarce  the  price  will  be  low. 
Although  belonging  to  the  same  genus,  the  habits  of  these  insects 
differ  in  certain  important  respects,  and  we  shall  consider  them 
separately. 

THE    SEMICOLON   BUTTERFLY. 
(Polyyonia  interrogationia  Godart.) 

GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION'. 

This  large  and  handsome  butterfly  is  widespread  in  the  United 
States,  occurring  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  the  borders  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  and  beyond  the  northern  boundaries  of  the  Alleghany 
fauna  from  Texas  to  central  Florida,  and  north  into  the  Lake  Supe- 
rior region.  It  is  very  abundant  in  the  New  York  and  Wisconsin 
hop-growing  regions  on  account  of  the  abundant  supply  of  what  is 
perhaps  its  favorite  food  plant.  The  butterfly  itself  is  found  in  gar- 
dens, in  open  glades,  and  upon  the  roadside  in  the  vicinity  <>f  woods. 
It  is  attracted  by  the  sap  flowing  from  wounded  trees  and  by  the  juices 
of  decaying  fruits.  It  is  subject  to  many  fluctuations  in  numbers  and 
while  exceedingly  common  one  year  may  be  very  rare  the  next. 


48 


HABITS   AND    NATURAL   HISTORY. 


The  species  is  double  brooded,  hibernating  in  the  butterfly  condition 
and  laying  its  eggs  late  in  May  or  early  in  June.  On  account  of  this 
comparatively  early  oviposition,  the  caterpillars  of  the  first  brood  are 
rarely  found  upon  the  hop,  and  the  eggs  are  therefore  laid  upon  some 
one  of  the  other  food  plants  of  the  insect,  which  mainly  belong  to  the 
family  Urticache,  and  comprise,  for  the  most  part,  elm,  hackberry, 
nettle,  and  false  nettle.  From  late  flyers  of  the  hibernated  adults, 
however,  a  few  eggs  may  be  laid  upon  the  hop  plant,  but  in  general 
this  first  brood  of  caterpillars  plays  no  part  in  hop  culture.  The  eggs 
laid  upon  the  other  food  plants,  however,  hatch  in  from  four  to  eleven 
days,  the  larva?  growing  rapidly  and  passing  from  eleven  to  fourteen 
days  in  the  chrysalis,  aud  finally  emerging  as  butterflies  in  July. 

These  fly  until  the 
middle  of  August, 
laying  their  eggs 
late  in  July  and  all 
through  August. 
In  hop-growing  re- 
gions eggs  of  this 
brood  of  butterflies 
are  laid  mainly  upon 
the  hop  plant,  and, 
as  before  stated,  in 
certain  seasons  are 
numerous  enough  to 
badly  rag  th  e  leaves, 
and  in  this  way  to 
appreciably  reduce 
the  vitality  of  the 
plant.     A   number 

Fig.  Zl.—Polygoniainterrogationis:  a,  egg  chain;  6,  larva;  c,  chrysalis;     q£  successive  VCarS 
(/,  adult— all  natural  sizo  except  a  which  is  greatly  enlarged  (original) . 

however,  may  occur 
in  which  the  larvre  are  comparatively  scarce.  The  butterflies  from  this 
generation  of  caterpillars  begin  to  appear  toward  the  end  of  August 
and  continue  to  emerge  from  chrysalids  until  the  end  of  October,  the 
chrysalis  state  in  this  brood  lasting  sometimes  as  long  as  twenty-six 
days.    These  butterflies  hibernate. 

In  the  South  there  are  said  to  be  three  broods,  and  according  to  Mr. 
W.  II.  Edwards  there  may  be  four  or  five  in  Florida.  The  eggs,  which 
are  shown  at  fig.  37,  are  usually  on  the  under  surface  of  the  leaves, 
although  occasionally  upon  the  upper,  and  sometimes  upon  the  stem, 
the  tender  terminal  leaves  being  preferred.  They  are  laid  either  singly 
or  in  hanging  columns  of  2  to  8,  3  or  4  being  most  common. 

The  caterpillars  may  occasionally  be  more  or  less  gregarious.     While 


49 

young  more  than  one  caterpillar  is  usually  found  upon  a  leaf.  From 
the  very  start  holes  are  eaten  quite  through  the  Leaf,  and  the  larva  at 
first  feeds  about  the  margin  of  these  holes.  They  feed  openly  as  a 
general  thing,  with  no  other  concealment  than  the  leaf  itself,  which  is 
not  folded,  although  Scudder  records  a  single  case  in  which  In-  found 
them  making  nests  upon  hop,  resembling  those  made  by  the  caterpillars 
of  P,  comma,  soon  to  be  described. 

The  chrysalis  is  often  suspended  from  the  leaf  or  stem  of  the  plant 
upon  which  the  larva  has  been  feeding,  but  the  caterpillar,  when  about 
to  pupate,  also  frequently  crawls  from  its  food  plant  ami  suspends 
itself  upon  some  neighboring  plant  or  often  upon  a  stalk  of  grass. 

DIMORPHISM. 

An  interesting  instance  of  dimorphism  occurs  with  this  species.  The 
wintering  butterflies  all  belong  to  one  form,  which  has  been  called 
fabriciij  but  which  differs  in  both  sexes  and  in  both  the  upper  and  lower 
aspects  of  the  wing  from  the  other  form.  The  summer  brood  eventu- 
ally developing  from  the  eggs  laid  by  these  hibernating  butterflies  is 
composed  exclusively  of  the  other  form,  which  is  known  as  umbrosa. 
The  differentiation  is  very  marked,  and  the  relegation  of  each  form  to 
its  distinctive  brood  is  quite  constant.  The  matter  becomes  more  com- 
plicated farther  south,  where  there  are  more  annual  generations,  and 
here  there  is  to  a  certain  extent  an  overlapping  of  forms.  Thus,  in  1882 
Mr.  Edwards  had  bred  more  than  twenty  batches  of  insects,  mainly 
from  eggs  of  which  he  knew  the  exact  parentage,  and  had  raised  over 
500  butterflies.  Up  to  1878  all  of  the  eggs  laid  by  hibernating  fabricii 
produced  umbrosa.  The  eggs  of  the  second  brood  produced  88  percent 
umbrosa;  of  the  third  brood,  55  per  cent  umbrosa,  and  of  the  fourth 
brood  &\\  fabricii.  In  the  following  year  the  proportions  varied  only  in 
the  second  and  third  broods,  which  were  changed  relatively  to  83  per 
cent  and  08  per  cent. 

NATURAL   ENEMIES. 

The  fluctuations  in  the  abundance  of  this  species  in  hop  fields  and 
elsewhere  are  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  commonly  subject  to  the 
attacks  of  parasites.  Moreover,  large  number  of  the  eggs  are  destroyed 
by  spiders  and  various  insects.  The  eggs  are  also  infested  by  a  minute 
parasite,  Telenomus  graptw  Howard,  a  dozen  or  more  of  which  will  some- 
times issue  from  a  single  egg.  The  larvae  are  stung  when  full  grown  by 
Vteromalus  vanessce  Harris  and  Roplismenus  morn! us  Say.  The  smaller 
dark  green  or  golden  colored  imagoes  of  the  former  species  issue  in 
numbers  from  a  hole  in  the  side  of  the  chrysalis,  and  the  >in.ule  large 
somber  Iloplismenu*  morulus  perfectly  decapitates  the  chrysalis  in  its 
escape. 

Remedies. — Hand  picking  and  spraying  with  an  arsenical  solution. 
89G7— No.  7 4 


50 


TIIE   COMMA  BUTTEEFLY. 
{Pohjgonia  comma  Harr.) 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION. 

This  butterfly,  which  is  one  of  the  commonest  of  our  northeastern 
forms,  belongs  distinctively  to  the  Alleghanian  fauna,  extending  south 
into  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  and  north  into  various  parts  of 
Canada,  especially  toward  the  east.  It  is  found  occasionally  in  small 
numbers  as  far  west  as  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska,  and  has  been 
recorded  from  Texas.  Wisconsin  is  too  far  from  its  normal  range  to 
allow  it  to  be  abundant  in  the  hop  fields,  but  in  New  York  it  is  rjerhaps 

more  frequently  found 
than  the  species  which 
we  have  just  discussed, 
and,  in  fact,  it  is  proba- 
bly more  abundant  in 
this  State  than  else- 
where. In  New  Eng- 
land Scudder  says  that 
it  is  nowhere  a  very  com- 
mon insect,  but  in  West 
Virginia,  owing  proba- 
bly to  local  causes,  it 
is  very  numerous.  The 
insect  is  distinctively 
called  by  Scudder  "the 
hop  merchant,"  but,  as 
we  have  already  shown, 
the  name  is  applied  in- 
discriminately to  the 
chrysalis  of  interroga- 
tions as  well. 

HABITS    AND    NATURAL    HIS- 
TORY. 

Fia.  38.— Pohjgonia  comma:  a,  egg  chain;  b,  larva;  c,  chrysalis;  111  the  hop-gTOwillg  re- 

d,  adult— all  natural  size  except  a  which  is  greatly  enlarged     pioUS   Of  New  York    the 

insect  is  double  brooded, 
the  butterflies  hibernating  and  flying  in  the  early  spring,  living  on  into 
the  latter  part  of  May  and  even  June.  The  first  brood  of  caterpillars 
lives,  in  the  main,  upon  elm,  and  young  elm  trees  recently  set  out  are 
frequently  injured  by  the  loss  of  almost  their  entire  foliage  in  the 
spring.  Where  the  roots  have  taken  hold,  they  recuperate  from  this 
defoliation  and  put  out  another  crop  of  leaves,  but  the  damage  is  some- 
times fatal  to  trees  which  have  just  been  transplanted.  Aside  from  the 
elm,  this  early  brood  may  also  feed  upon  nettle  and  false  nettle.    The 


51 

adult  butterflies  developing  from  the  first  brood  of  larvae  begin  to  breed 
at  the  end  of  June  and  fly  until  late  in  August.  In  hop-growing 
regions  the  majority  of  the  eggs  of  this  set  of  butterflies  arc  laid  upon 
hop  vines.  The  resulting  caterpillars  iced  until  well  on  in  August,  and 
the  butterflies  which  are  to  hibernate  make  their  appearance  from  the 
latter  part  of  this  month  until  the  latter  pari  of  September.  They 
enter  hibernating  quarters  almost  Immediately,  since  they  are  rarely 
seen  in  October. 

The  eggs,  as  seen  from  the  plate,  arc  very  similar  in  shape  and  size 
to  those  of  the  semicolon  butterfly,  and  are  laid  in  somewhat  similar 
depending  columns,  which  vary  in  number  from  2  to  9  eggs.  Frequently 
several  of  these  columns  will  be  found  upon  a  single  leaf,  usually  upon 
the  under  surface,  but  occasionally  upon  the  stem  or  upon  the  tendrils. 
Although  frequently  a  Large  number  of  eggs  are  thus  found  upon  the 
same  leaf,  the  caterpillars  are  in  no  sense  gregarious.  On  hatching 
they  almost  invariably  migrate  toother  Leaves,  and  each  one  lives  singly. 
At  first  it  fevtls  without  concealment  on  the  under  surface  of  the  Leaf, 
then  it  begins  to  draw  the  outer  edges  together  by  silken  threads  a-  a 
sort  of  protection,  apparently,  from  the  daylight,  as  it  feeds  mainly  at 
night.  The  young  larvae  are  dark  colored  and  nearly  black,  but  grow 
lighter  with  successive  molts. 

DIMORPHISM. 

Just  as  in  the  preceding  species,  a  dimorphism  occurs  with  the  comma 
butterfly*  The  hibernating  form  has  been  called  harrisii  and  the  sum 
mer  form  dry  as.  The  distinction  between  the  two  forms  is  not  as 
marked  as  with  the  preceding  species,  nor  is  the  relegation  to  distinct 
broods  as  marked.  The  fact  which  we  have  just  noted  may  be  called 
simply  the  general  rule.  In  its  southern  range  the  species  is  three 
brooded,  the  first  brood  being  composed  of  dryas,  the  second  of  both 
forms,  and  the  hibernating  brood  of  harrisii  only. 

NATURAL   ENEMIES. 

This  species  is  quite  as  extensively  parasitized  as  is  inter rogationis. 
Dr.  J.  B.  Smith,  after  his  experience  in  the  hop  fields  in   L8S3,  stated 

that  not  one  in  ten  of  the  insects  ever  reaches  the  butterfly  state.  The 
chrysalids  which  he  collected  in  the  autumn  were  without  exception 
infested.  The  parasite  which  caused  this  great  destruction  of  chrysa- 
lids in  1883  was  Pteromalus  vanessw.  The  only  other  hymenopterous 
parasite  found  to  affect  this  insect  i-  Olypta  erratUsa^  which  Dr.  Eiley 
reared  in  Missouri  from  the  chrysalis  of  the  butterfly.  Mr.  Scudderalso 
states  that  he  reared  or  had  sent  to  him  a  tachinid  fly  raised  from  this 
species,  but  the  specimen  has  been  lost,  so  that  he  doe-  not  know  the 
locality  or  the  species. 

Remedies. — Same  as  for  preceding  specie-. 


THE  PLUM  PLANT-LOUSE. 

(Myzus  mahaleb  Fonsc.) 

By  Theodore  Pergande. 

Several  species  of  plant-lice  occur  upon  the  plum,  and  one  of  these  is 
so  much  like  Phorodon  humuli,  the  hop  plant-louse,  in  certain  stages  of 
its  development  that  without  great  care  the  observer  will  be  led  astray. 
Its  habits  are  different,  and  it  never  migrates  to  the  hop.  This  species 
is  Myzus  mahaleb  Fonscolombe.  It  was  formerly  considered  as  a  true 
Phorodon,  and  is  quite  generally  mentioned  in  literature  under  this 
genus.  On  account  of  the  confusion  liable  to  arise,  we  may  devote 
some  little  space  to  a  consideration  of  this  species.  The  generic  char- 
acters separating  Myzus  from  Phorodon  are  as  follows : 

Frontal  tubercles  prolonged  at  inner  angle  into  a  prominent,  slender,  por- 

rected  tooth ;  first  antennal  joint  bluntly  but  distinctly  gibbous Phorodon. 

Frontal  tubercles  gibbous  at  inner  angle;  first  antennal  joint  without  a 

tooth Myzus. 

In  P.  humuli  the  inner  apical  angle  of  the  frontal  tubercles  is  pro- 
longed into  a  rather  long  and  slender  branch,  reaching  in  the  apterous 
females,  larvae,  and  pupae,  except  those  of  the  first  generation,  to  about 
the  apex  of  the  first  antennal  joint,  being  somewhat  shorter,  though  still 
slender,  in  the  winged  form,  and  having  a  distinct,  stout,  and  blunt 
tubercle  near  the  inner  apical  angle  of  the  first  antennal  joint.  In  M. 
mahaleb,  however,  the  inner  prolongation  of  the  frontal  tubercles  is 
rather  insignificant,  stout,  and  rounded,  and  the  tootli  of  the  first  joint 
is  wanting  in  all  generations.  The  only  generation  in  which  both  spe- 
cies are  difficult  to  be  separated  is  the  first,  in  which  the  frontal  tuber- 
cles in  both  species  are  scarcely  indicated,  whereas  in  the  last  or  sexual 
generation  the  females  of  both  may  be  separated  without  difficulty. 

The  synonymy  of  the  species  is  as  follows : 

Myzus  mahaleb  Fonsc. 

Aphis  pruni- mahaleb  Fonscolombe,  Ann.  Soc.  Ent.  de  France,  X,  1841,  p.  175. 

Aphis  mahaleb  Koch,  Pilanzenliiuse,  1857,  p.  113. 

Myzus  mahahb  Tasserini,  Aphididse  Italic;?,  1863,  p.  26. 

Phorodon  humuli  var.  malahcb  Buckton,  British  Aphides,  1876,  p.  168. 

Phorodon  hamuli  var.  mahaleb,  Thomas,  Nox.  and  Benef.  Ins.  111.,  1878,  p.  72. 

Siphonophora  aehyrantes  Monell  ( ?),  Nox.  and  Benef.  Ins.  111.,  1878,  p.  187. 

Regarding  the  synonoiny  of  this  species  much  uncertainty  has  previ- 
ously existed.  Notwithstanding  that  Fonscolombe  and  Koch  have  indi 
cated  its  sjjecific  characters  and  Passerini  its  generic  position,  it  is  still 

52 


53 

considered  by  some  authors  as  but  a  variety  of  Phorodon  humuli,  simply, 
as  it  appears,  on  account  of  its  occurrence  on  plum  in  company  with 
hamuli  and  on  account  of  the  general  similarity  in  color  and  markings. 
During  1886  and  1887,  its  life  history  was  carefully  studied  by  the 
writer,  and  its  identity  with  the  species  described  under  this  oame  by 
Fonscolombe,  Koch,  and  Passerini  affirmed.  Thai  considerable  diffi- 
culty has  been  experienced  in  this  task  goes  without  saying. 

FOOD   PLANTS   OF   THE    SPEC/IKS    COMPAEED. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  superficial  similarity  of  the  two  species, 
the  life  habits  of  both  during  the  course  of  a  season  are  quite  dissimi- 
lar. Whereas  Phorodon  humuli  subsists,  as  far  as  known,  exclusively 
upon  the  different  varieties  of  plum  and  hop  and  produces  l>ut  one 
return  migrating  brood  in  fall,  mahaleb,  from  the  time  that  its  migra- 
tory form  leaves  the  plum,  is  never  found  upon  the  hop,  bul  is  able  to 
accommodate  itself  through  succeeding  generations  to  the  peculiarities 
of  a  considerable  number  of  quite  dissimilar  plants,  which  are  in  no  way 
related  to  each  other  nor  to  the  plum  or  the  hop.  The  diversity  of  habit 
of  the  species  after  leaving  the  plum  or  peach  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  its  progeny  will  thrive  equally  well  upon  the  pear,  suntlower, 
IJumex,  kohlrabi,  chrysanthemum,  shepherd's  purse,  Portulaca,  and 
a  number  of  other  plants  in  the  conservatory  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  among  which  the  following  ones  appear  to  be  most  sub- 
ject to  its  aUacks:  Khamnus,  Mallotus,  Rhus,  Alfredia.  and  a  spe- 
cies of  tobacco,  on  most  of  which  plants  it  multiplies  with  wonderful 
rapidity.  Considering  the  great  variety  of  plants  which  it  inhabits. 
it  will  not  be  strange  if  in  the  future  it  shall  be  found,  after  more 
careful  observations,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  that  quite  a 
number  of  described  species  are  identical  with  mahaleb,  and  we  believe 
that  we  are  justified  in  referring  to  this  species  the  form  described  by 
Mr.  Monell  under  the  name  of  Siphonophora  achyrantes  (8th  Rep.  Xox. 
and  Benef.  Ins.  111.,  1879,  p.  187). 

Koch's  description  of  mahaleb  is  quite  comprehensive,  and  can  not 
be  mistaken  for  humuli.  If  Koch  had  not  seen  and  examined  both 
species  at  the  same  time  as  found  upon  the  plum,  he  would  certainly 
not  have  expressed  himself  in  the  words  he  used  in  his  description, 
that,  notwithstanding  its  close  resemblance  to  humuli,  it  differs  mark- 
edly from  that  species  in  the  absence  of  the  tooth  at  the  inner  apical 
angle  of  the  first  antenna!  joint,  as  well  as  in  other  minor  characters. 

Noonewhohas  studied  plant  lice  carefully,  or  who  has  had  occasion  to 
Study  these  two  species  simultaneously,  will  entertain  a  doubt  as  t«>  the 
correctness  of  Enoch's  observation.  The  characters  of  the  frontal  tuber- 
cles and  of  tin1  first  antenna!  joint,  which  separate  the  two  species,  are 
bo  obvious  and  of  such  constancy  through  all  generations,  except  per- 
haps in  the  first,  that  it  would  at  least  be  hasty  t<>  consider  them  as 
varieties.     There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that   the  two  species  are 


54 

in  no  way  specifically  related,  and  that  the  true  position  of  mahaleb  is 
where  Passerini  correctly  placed  it,  in  the  genus  Myzus,  whereas 
h a nin I i.  on  account  of  its  frontal  and  autennal  characters,  belongs  to 
Phorodon. 

LIFE    HISTORY   OF   MYZUS  MAHALEB. 

The  following  account  is  based  mainly  upon  observations  made  at 
Washington,  D.  C. : 

The  hatching  period  of  the  eggs  in  this  latitude  ranges  from  about 
the  20th  of  March  to  the  first  week  in  April,  being  either  accelerated 
or  retarded  according  as  the  weather  is  favorable  or  otherwise,  but 
always  at  the  time  when  the  sap  commences  to  rise  and  the  buds  to 
swell.  This  period  is  the  most  critical  in  the  life  history  of  the  species, 
as  numerous  individuals  will  perish  from  cold  and  wet  if  weather 
changes  occur  suddenly  and  frequently,  for  their  ranks  may  be  depleted 
to  such  an  extent  that  perhaps  not  more  than  5  or  10  out  of  1,000  may 
succeed  in  reaching  maturity. 

The  hatching  commences  generally  about  the  15th  or  20th  of  March, 
so  that  in  a  few  days,  if  the  weather  be  favorable,  there  appear  hun- 
dreds of  young  larva?  on  all  the  twigs  and  buds.  Cold  showers  and 
frost,  however,  during  the  following  days  reduce  their  numbers  to  such 
an  extent  that  few  can  be  found.  Those  which  survive  attain  maturity 
about  the  10th  of  April — about  twenty  days  or  a  little  more  after 
hatching — and  commence  at  once  to  deposit  their  larvae,  increasing  in 
number  quite  rapidly  as  it  becomes  warmer  and  as  the  leaves  expand. 
Before  acquiring  full  growth  the  stem-mother  casts  five  skins,  changing 
but  little  in  general  appearance,  except  in  size,  in  the  number  and 
length  of  the  antenna!  joints,  and  in  the  length  and  shape  of  the  nec- 
taries.    The  antennae  of  the  mature  stem-mother  are  six-jointed. 

The  second  generation  grows  more  rapidly  than  the  first,  so  that 
many  are  full-grown  before  the  25th  of  April,  when  they  have  assumed 
the  general  characters  of  the  species,  which  they  retain  with  but  slight 
alterations  through  all  following  generations.  The  antennae  are  now 
seven -jointed  and  the  nectaries  long  and  slender.  This  generation,  as  a 
rule,  is  apterous,  like  the  preceding  generation,  though  occasionally 
there  develop  in  one  or  the  other  colony  one  or  a  few  winged  individ- 
uals. These  winged  specimens  are  very  shy  and  drop  and  fly  off  at  the 
slightest  jar.  This  early  appearance  of  a  few  winged  specimens  is  an 
evident  provision  of  nature  to  preserve  the  species  from  destruction  in 
case  a  third  or  genuine  migratory  generation  should  fail  to  reach 
maturity.  The  lice  now  increase  quite  rapidly  in  numbers,  and  station 
themselves  along  the  midrib  of  the  young  leaves,  causing  them  to  twist 
and  curl  into  different  shapes. 

The  third  generation  grows  still  more  rapidly,  so  that  many  of  the 
oldest  individuals  are  already  winged  by  or  before  the  5th  of  May, 
while  1  he  great  bulk  reached  the  winged  stage  between  the  9th  and  20th 
of  the  month.     In  this  generation,  as  in  the  preceding,  a  few  individ- 


55 

uals  remain  apterous  and  produce  a  fourth  generation,  mosl  of  which 
become  winged  toward  the  end  of  t  he  month  or  early  in  June.  Some  of 
the  winged  fourth  generation  deposit  a  few  larvae  on  the  tree  on  which 
they  were  born  before  leaving  in  search  of  oilier  suitable  plants. 

On  warm  days  during  the  swarming  period  of  the  third  generation 
the  air  is  often  filled  toward  evening  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  in- 
fested trees  with  the  winged  individuals  searching  for  suitable  plants 
upon  which  to  settle. 

The  few  remaining  apterous  females  of  the  third  generation  have 
now  a  hard  struggle  to  escape  their  enemies,  which  by  this  time  have 
become  extremely  numerous,  so  much  so  thai  very  few  escape  to  estab- 
lish colonies  of  the  fourth  generation.  Still  fewer  escape  to  form  the 
fifth.  Someof  both  the  fourth  and  fifth  become  winged.  Natural  ene- 
mies or  a  prevalent  fungous  disease  destroy  so  many  that  the  last  few 
stragglers  may  be  seen  on  the  trees  early  in  June,  and  this  appears  to 
be  the  extreme  limit  of  the  spring  generations  on  the  peach  or  plum,  at 
least  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  migrating  forms  have  been  able,  as 
stated  before,  to  establish  and  distribute  their  progeny  on  a  number  of 
different  plants  over  a  wide  area  of  country,  often  miles  away  from 
any  peach  or  plum  trees,  raising  immense  colonies,  many  individuals 
of  which  become  again  winged  from  time  to  time,  till  the  raids  of  their 
enemies  reduce  them  more  and  more,  so  that  from  the  10th  to  the  20th  of 
July  hardly  an  individual  is  to  be  found  on  any  of  the  infested  plants. 
They  apparently  disappear  completely,  though  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  they  still  exist  in  one  form  or  another  either  above  or  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground  on  different  kinds  of  plants.  Xo  trace  of  their 
whereabouts  has  been  found  so  far. 

After  an  intermission  of  four  or  five  months,  after  leaving  the  peach 
and  plum,  the  winged  female  return  migrants  suddenly  make  their 
appearance  again  on  the  trees,  from  about  the  first  of  October  till 
toward  the  middle  of  November,  SO  that  at  times  all  the  leaves  and 
twigs  are  literally  covered  with  them  and  with  their  larvae.  All  the 
larva' which  are  now  produced  belong  to  the  true  sexual  generation. 
and  are  composed  exclusively  of  apterous  females,  which,  however, 
differ  considerably  in  appearance  from  all  other  apterous  generations, 
the  oldest  of  which  reach  full  maturity  by  the  end  of  the  month  or  the 
first  of  November,  by  and  after  which  time,  tor  about  two  or  three 
weeks,  a  large  number  <>f  migrants  appear.  These  are  almost  entirely 
males,  which  at  once  commence  to  pair  with  the  females,  after  which. 
in  about  a  day.  the  latter  deposit  their  eggs,  to  the  number  of  from  5  to 
8,  on  buds,  twigs,  and  trunk.  The  plants  from  which  these  return 
migrants  come  are  in  part  those  on  which  they  settled  in  spring  after 
deserting  the  plum  and  peach.  There  seems  to  be,  however,  some 
influence  at  work  which  prevents  many  from  acquiring  wings  and 
forces  them  to  remain  where  they  were  born.     These  last,  one  would 


56 

naturally  suppose,  would  gradually  succumb  and  die  during  winter, 
but  this  does  not  appear  to  be  the  case.  Repeated  examinations  of 
certain  plants  from  the  time  the  last  migrants  appeared  on  the  trees 
till  some  time  in  February  the  following  year,  both  outdoors  and  in  hot- 
houses, even  after  several  severe  frosts  and  snowstorms,  showed  the 
lice  on  all  the  plants  in  large  numbers  in  every  stage  of  development, 
and  among  them  often  many  winged  ones  as  lively  and  active  as  though 
the  weather  had  been  most  agreeable  to  them. 

It  may  be  well  to  state,  however,  that  the  only  season  in  which  this 
observation  has  been  made  was  that  of  1888-89,  in  which  the  winter 
was  a  remarkably  open  one.  The  lice  have  not  been  searched  for  during 
other  and  more  severe  winters. 

DESCRIPTIONS    OF    THE   DIFFERENT    STAGES. 

FIRST   GENERATION    (STEM-MOTHER). 

First  stage. — Length  of  recently  hatched  larva,  about  0.6  mm. ;  color  almost  black, 
with  a  slight  greenish  tinge ;  antennae  five-jointed,  the  fifth  somewhat  longer  than  the 
third;  joints  1,  2,  and  4  shortest  and  subequal  in  length;  frontal  tubercles  wanting; 
legs  very  stout,  nectaries  about  as  long  as  thick,  and  apparently  somewhat  shorter 
than  the  second  antennal  joint. 

Second  stage. — Length,  about  0.8  mm. ;  color  darker  or  paler  greenish-gray,  with 
a  slightly  darker  medio-dorsal  line;  head  and  all  members  darkest;  the  head  some- 
what polished,  with  a  distinct  and  quite  deep  fovea  on  the  vertex;  antennae  still 
five-jointed,  the  third  joint  as  long  or  somewhat  longer  than  the  two  last  together, 
with  an  indication  of  a  division  into  two  joints;  frontal  tubercles  still  wanting; 
rostrum  shorter  than  the  body;  nectaries  slightly  longer  than  thick,  with  a  con- 
striction or  annulus  at  extreme  tip. 

Third  stage. — Length,  about  1  mm. ;  color  either  greenish-gray,  greenish,  or 
greenish-yellow,  medio-dorsal  line  darkest,  while  the  lateral  margin  and  end  of 
body  are  often  slightly  ferruginous ;  the  dorsum  is  also  frequently  marked  with  faint 
but  darker  irregular  green  mottlings ;  head  darker  or  lighter  dusky,  polished,  and 
with  a  paler  median  line;  antennae  six-jointed,  dusky,  joint  3  palest  at  base;  the 
third  and  sixth  longest,  about  equal,  or  the  sixth  is  slightly  longest ;  the  fourth  and 
fifth  subequal,  each  rather  less  than  half  the  length  of  the  sixth ;  eyes  almost  black  ; 
legs  still  stout,  though  more  slender  than  in  previous  stages;  femora  and  tibia? 
somewhat  dusky  toward  the  end;  tarsi  blackish;  body  almost  oval,  broadest  at 
the  middle  of  the  abdomen;  nectaries  at  least  twice  as  long  as  thick,  reaching  to 
tip  of  abdomen,  slightly  curved,  and  somewhat  thinnest  a  short  distance  above  base; 
apex  dusky,  the  constriction  as  before. 

Fourth  stage.- — Length,  1.4  mm. ;  general  color,  greenish-yellow,  marked  more  or 
leas  distinctly  on  the  head,  dorsum,  and  lateral  margin  with  crimson  or  pinkish  spots; 
head  faintly  concave  in  front,  with  a  slight  median  swelling;  antennae  very  similar 
in  the  proportions  of  their  joints  to  those  of  the  previous  stage,  though  longer  and 
more  slender,  greenish,  with  the  tip  of  joints  3  and  4  and  the  two  last  joints  black- 
ish ;  eyes  brown ;  rostrum  rather  short,  reaching  to  about  the  median  legs ;  legs  of 
color  of  body,  with  about  their  terminal  third  dusky;  tarsi  blackish;  body  oval, 
tapering  to  a  point  posteriorly,  and  distinctly  filled  with  almost  fully  developed 
pseudova;  nectaries  rather  slender,  slightly  curved,  almost  of  equal  thickness, 
slightly  stoutest  at  base,  four  to  five  times  longer  than  thick,  faintly  dusky,  darkest 
at  tip ;  tail  not  yet  present. 

Fifth  stage. — Length,  1.6  to  1.8  mm.;  general,  color  pale  greenish-yellow,  with  a 
more  or  less  distinct  darker  green  medio-dorsal  line,  marked  along  the  lateral  border 


57 

often  with  a  more  or  less  distinct  pinkish  shade;  bead  still  more  ooncave  in  front, 
with  a  trace  of  frontal  tubercles;  antennae  blackish,  the  lasl  three  joints  darkest, 

still  more  slender  than  in  the  previous  stage,  the  third  joint  at  leasl  as  Long  as  the 
terminal  two  together;  tirst  joint  much  stouter  and  larger  than  the  second; 
brown;  body  regularly  oval ;  prothorax  distinctly  separated  from  the  Oleothorax 
by  a  distinct  suture,  its  Literal  margin  sinuate;  legs  more  or  less  dusky,  apex  of 
tibiae  and  the  tarsi  dusky  or  blackish  :  nectaries  almost  as  long  as  the  third  antenna! 
joint,  almost  straight,  but  slightly  curved  toward  the  apex  and  slightly  thicker  at 
base,  reaching  to  the  end  of  the  penultimate  segmenl ;  tail  .still  rudimentary,  broadly 
triangular,  not  projecting  beyond  the  tip  of  the  abdomen;  pseudova  apparently 
mostly  fully  developed. 

S'utlt  or  final  staye. — Length,  about  2  mm.;  general  color,  pale  greenish-yellow, 
usually  with  a  darker  green  medio-dorsal  and  occasionally  a  more  or  less  distinct 
subdorsal  line;  marked  along  the  sides  and  often  at  the  posterior  end  of  the  body 
more  or  less  distinctly  with  pink  or  purple;  frontal  tubercles  dist  i  net.  though  rather 
short  and  stout .  without  the  gibbosity  at  inner  side;  antennae  six-join  ted,  slender, 
about  one-third  the  length  of  the  whole  insect;  third  joint  longest,  rather  longer 
than  the  last  three  combined;  they  are  almost  colorless,  the  last  i  wo  joints 
blackish;  eyes  brown;  prothorax  considerably  narrower  than  the  next  Begment, 
from  which  it  is  distinctly  separated;  all  other  segments  continent,  w  ith  the  sutures 
more  or  less  completely  obliterated,  the  Bnrface  quite  distinctly  reticulated;  Legs 
slender,  of  color  of  body,  tip  of  tibia-  and  tarsi  blackish;  nectaries  long,  slender, 
somewhat  stoutest  at  base,  slightly  curved,  reaching  somewhat  beyond  end  of  body, 
and  rather  longer  than  the  last  two  joints  of  the  antennae  combined  ;  tail  prominent, 
slender,  elongated  conical,  curved  upward,  about  half  the  length  of  the  nectaries, 
covered  closely  with  minute,  acute  scab;  or  tooth-like  projections  and  provided  each 
side  with  three  or  four  rather  long  and  slender,  almost  semicircularly  curved,  back- 
wardly  directed  hairs;  embryos  fully  developed;  born  soon  after  the  last  skin  has 
been  cast. 

SECOND   GENERATION. 

Larva,  recently  deposited. — Length,  about  0.7  mm. ;  color,  pale  yellowish-green  ;  head 
slighty  dusky,  eyes  brown  ;  antenna-,  legs,  and  nectaries  pale  dusky;  antenna-  >ix- 
jointed,  joints  3  and  6  longest  and  subcecal  in  length;  frontal  tubercles  about  as 
large  as  in  the  mature  stem  mother;  nectaries  stout,  slightly  thinnest  at  apex,  and 
rather  longer  than  the  fourth  antennal  joint. 

Female,  mature  form. — Length,  2.7  to  2.8  mm. ;  general  color,  yellowish-green  or 
greenish-yellow,  the  darker  specimens  with  a  distinct  darker  green  medio-dorsal 
line  and  a  subdorsal  row  of  six  to  seven  somewhat  transverse  darker  green  Bpots; 
exes  brown,  all  members  almost  colorless,  the  sixth  and  seventh  antennal  joints  and 
tarsi  slightly  dusky;  frontal  tubercles  stout,  with  but  a  slight  indication  of  gibbos- 
ity and  rather  shorter  than  the  first  antennal  joint ;  antenna-  seven- join  ted  :  tirst  joint 
almost  t  V!  L(  e  as  stout  as  the  second,  the  third  the  longest  and  almost  twice  as  long  as 
the  tilth;  body  elongated  oval,  the  prothorax  well  separated  from  the  rest,  all  other 
segments  more  or  less  continent,  except  the  last  two  01  three:  the  whole  surface 
densely  reticulated  ;  legs  slender  and  rather  long;  nectaries  slender,  reaching  beyond 
tip  of  abdomen,  about  as  long  as  the  third  antennal  joint,  Blightly  curved  and  some- 
what stoutest  at  base;  tail  similar  to  that  of  the  stem  mother. 

THIRD   OB   MIGRATOR?    GSNXBATION. 

Pupa. — Length.  1.9  to  2  mm. ;  general  color,  pale  greenish-yellow,  some  more  green 
ish  and  others  more  of  an  orange  color,  especially  on  head  and  thorax;  antenna 
and  nectaries  either  almost  i  olorless  or  of  the  color  of  the  bodj  :  wingpads  and  tarsi 
dusky  or  blackish;  frontal  tubercles  very  stout,  the  gibbosity    blunt,  round,  and 
somewhat  more  developed  than  in  the  female  of  the  previous  generation;  antenna 


58 

quite  slender,  seven-jointed;  in  some  specimens  they  reach  just  a  little  heyond  the 
tip  of  the  wingpads;  joint  3  slightly  shorter  than  7,  joints  4  and  5  almost  equal  in 
length  ;  prothorax  as  hroad  as  head  and  much  narrower  than  next  segment,  its  sides 
almost  parallel;  rest  of  body  broadly  oval  and  closely  reticulated;  the  thorax  is 
often  marked  each  side  with  a  rather  indistinct  darker  subdorsal  line,  ending  at  the 
posterior  margin  in  quite  distinct  dusky  or  greenish  spots  or  lines  on  the  abdo- 
men, which  gradually  increase  in  transverse  length,  being  longest  between  the  nec- 
taries; two  others  beyond  them  connect  with  the  lateral  margin;  nectaries  about 
as  long  as  the  third  antennal  joint,  rather  stouter  at  base,  and  reaching  almost  to 
end  of  body. 

Mature  or  migrator}/  form.—  Length,  2.2  to  2.4  mm. ;  expanse,  6.8  to  7  mm.;  color, 
greenish-yellow  or  yellowish-green ;  the  sides  of  the  thorax  generally  more  yellowish  ; 
head  and  prothorax  dusky;  antenme,  thoracic  lobes,  sternal  plates,  apical  third  or 
more  of  femora,  apex  of  tibia?,  and  three  lateral  abdominal  spots  black;  the  abdo- 
men is  marked  anteriorly  with  one  or  two  narrow,  more  or  less  obliterated  or  inter- 
rupted, transverse  lines;  a  large,  squarish,  dusky  spot,  throwing  out  two  short 
branches  each  side,  just  in  front  of  nectaries,  covering  segments  3  to  5,  and  a  broad 
band  behind  nectaries,  connecting  with  their  base ;  anal  spot  black ;  front  of  head 
conical,  frontal  tubercles  more  or  less  distinctly  gibbous,  though  never  prolonged 
and  porrected  as  in  Ph.  humidi]  antennae  slender,  longer  than  the  body,  the  third 
joint  yellowish  at  base,  slightly  shorter  than  the  seventh  and  sparsely  tuberculated ; 
the  fourth  about  as  long  as  the  two  following  ones  together;  legs  long  and  slender, 
especially  the  posterior  tibke,  which  are  almost  as  long  as  the  whole  body ;  wings 
large,  their  subcosta  yellowish  or  greenish,  stigma  dusky,  veins  black;  nectaries  pale 
dusky,  darkest  toward  the  end,  long  and  slender,  almost  of  equal  diameter,  being 
rather  slenderer  a  short  distance  above  base,  whence  they  bend  inward,  curving 
gently  outward  beyond  the  middle;  tail  pale  dusky,  elongate,  conical,  nearly  two- 
thirds  the  length  of  nectaries,  curved  upward,  furnished  each  side  with  three  or 
four  rather  long,  slender,  backward-curved  hairs;  its  surface  covered  with  numerous 
transverse  rows  of  minute  sharp  points. 

The  apterous  females  which  occasionally  occur  in  the  third  generation 
differ  from  those  of  the  previous  generation  almost  as  much  as  the 
second  generation  does  from  the  first.  They  are  considerably  smaller, 
measuring  scarcely  2  mm.  in  length  when  fully  mature,  while  the  frontal 
tubercles  are  more  prominent  and  more  like  those  of  the  winged  form; 
the  antennte,  legs,  and  nectaries  longer  and  more  slender.  This  is  in 
fact  the  migratory  form  destitute  of  wings. 

The  differences  from  this  time  on  to  the  end  of  the  season  are  so 
small,  compared  with  those  of  the  spring  and  fall  broods,  as  to  be 
almost  imperceptible,  notwithstanding  that  they  may  be  found  on  quite 
a  number  of  different  plants,  so  that  the  species  may  always  most 
readily  be  recognized. 

RETURN  MIGRANTS,  OR  PUPIFEROTJS  FEMALES. 

The  females  of  the  fall  brood  which  return  again  to  the  plum  and 
peach  are  in  general  appearance  like  those  of  previous  generations. 
They  are,  however,  as  a  rule,  somewhat  larger  and  stouter,  and  all 
markings  are  more  intensified.  The  frontal  tubercles  are  still  more  dis- 
tinctly gibbous,  and  the  nectaries  are  quite  distinctly  inflated  toward 
the  end,  giving  them  a  somewhat  clavate  appearance.  In  many  of 
the  specimens  may  also  be  noticed  three  small  black  spots  or  lines  each 


59 

side  of  the  venter.     These  females,  as  soon  as  they  settle  on  the  peach 
or  plum,  give  birth  to  true  or  sexual  wingless  females. 

Male. — By  the  time  the  earliest  sexual  females  are  full  grown,  which 
requires  between  three  and  four  weeks,  the  return  migrants  become 
again  more  numerous  and  prove  to  be  generally  true  mule-.  This 
migration  continues,  if  the  weather  is  not,  absolutely  unfavorable,  till 
the  end  of  the  season,  toward  the  end  of  November  or  the  commence- 
ment  of  December. 

Description  of  male. — Length,  2  mm. ;  expanse  of  wings,  6.8  nun.:  general  appear- 
ance very  similar  to  that  of  the  migratory  female.  It  is,  however,  smaller  in  size, 
with  the  sides  of  the  abdomen  qnite  parallel  and  with  comparatively  longer  wings 
and  antennae,  which  latter  reach  qnite  a  distance  beyond  the  tip  of  the  abdomen. 
Genera]  color  somewhat  darker,  often  inclining  to  orange,  especially  oo  the  thorax 
and  legs.  The  squarish,  dusky  spot  on  the  abdomen  is  narrower  than  in  the  migrat- 
ing female,  and  reaches  often  nearly  to  tin- end  of  the  abdomen ;  it  is  frequently 
divided  into  three  separate  bands,  and  is  usually  connected  anteriorly  with  the 
median  one  of  the  three  lateral  spots;  anterior  to  this  are  the  two  usual  narrow 
transverse  hands  and  often  additional  minute  spots.  Genital  claspers  and  a  sub- 
ventral  row  each  side  of  five  to  six:  small  spots,  black. 

Sexual  female.— Length  of  the  mature  female,  2.4  to  2.6  mm.;  body  stout,  broadesl 
at  the  middle,  tapering  almost  equally  toward  both  ends;  frontal  tubercles  dusky, 
short .  stout,  their  inner  angles  bluntly  gibbous;  antennae  blackish,  darkest  toward 
the  end,  the  third  joint  more  or  less  pale  at  base,  slender,  scarcely  reaching  to  1. 
nectaries;  seven-joiwted ;  third  and  seventh  subequal  in  length,  fourth  somewhat 
shorter;  posterior  tihhe  distinctly  stouter  than  the  others;  nectaries  identical  with 
those  of  the  male  and  migratory  female ;  tail  shorter  and  stouter  than  in  the  previous 
stages  and  scarcely  half  the  length  of  the  nectaries;  color  qnite  variable,  the  palest 
being  red,  while  a  great  many  are  of  different  shades  of  brown,  greenish-brown,  or 
dark  grayish-green,  often  almost  black  ;  all,  however,  are  marked  with  a  more  or  Less 
distinct,  dusky,  medio-dorsal  spot;  the  color  of  the  legs  also  varies  from  pale  dusky 
to  nearly  black;  tarsi  black;  nectaries  dusky,  black  at  tip;  tail  and  tip  of  abdomen 
blackish. 

Winter  egg. — Length.  0.7  mm. :  diameter,  0.3  mm.:  regularly  oval  in  shape,  highly 
polished,  light  green,  and  more  or  less  transparent  at  lirst,  changing  gradually  to  a 
jet  black. 


THE  ROSE  LEAF-BEETLE. 

(Nodonota puncticollis  Say.) 
By  F.  H.  Chittenden. 

One  of  the  commonest  and  widespread  species  of  the  leaf-feeding 
Chrysomelidie  is  the  little  globose  beetle  now  known  as  Nodonotapuncti- 
collis  Say  (fig.  39).  In  the  initial  number  of  the  American  Entomologist 
(Vol.  I,  p.  12)  which  appeared  in  September,  1868,  Walsh  has  given  what 
appears  to  be  the  first  published  notice  of  injuries  that  may  be  safely 
attributed  to  this  insect.  The  species  is  mentioned  as  "  Colaspis,  n. 
sp.T'  and  is  said  to  have  been  very  numerous  on  June  19  of  that  year 
on  the  foliage  of  cultivated  plum;  also  to  be  "no  doubt,  to  a  certain 
extent,  injurious  by  feeding  upon  the  leaves,  and  should  therefore  be 
devoted  to  destruction."    *     *     * 

The  American  Naturalist  for  September,  1883  (Vol. 
XVII,  p.  978),  published  a  second  notice  of  damage  by 
this  beetle.  The  note  in  question  is  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz  of  this  Division,  and  the  beetle  was 
observed  June  10  of  that  year  near  Herndon,  Fairfax 
County,  Va.,  "doing  considerable  harm  to  pear  and 
peach  trees  by  gnawing  at  the  tender  terminal  shoots 
of  the  twigs."  The  tips  of  the  twigs  thus  injured  dried 
fig.  39— Nodonota  up  and  died. 
fa"gedC(ori*inai)  ^n  Pa&e  ^8  of  Prof.  S.  A.  Forbes's  second  annual 
report  for  1883  (1884)  this  species  is  briefly  mentioned  as 
occurring  on  grape  and  strawberry,  and  on  page  159  it  is  surmised  from 
the  occurrence  of  the  insect  in  such  numbers  on  the  latter  plant  that 
the  species  will  be  found  to  have  similar  habits  and  history  to  Colas- 
pis  brunnea,  one  of  the  so-called  strawberry  root-borers  with  which  it 
was  associated. 

In  his  report  as  Entomologist  of  this  Department  for  1884  (p.  336) 
Dr.  Riley  mentioned  this  insect  as  an  enemy  of  the  willow,  the  imago 
being  stated  to  feed  upon  "the  very  young,  not  yet  fully  developed 
leaves."  At  the  June  (1891)  meeting  of  the  Entomological  Society  of 
Washington  (Proc.  Ent.  Soc.  Wash.,  Vol.  II,  p.  218)  the  same  writer 
called  attention  to  injury  done  to  roses  by  this  species  in  the  suburbs 
of  Washington,  D.  0.  The  insect  was  first  noticed  that  year,  and  the 
roses  had  been  very  largely  blighted  by  its  attacks,  the  nature  of  the 
damage  having  consisted  in  the  boring  or  eating  of  the  beetles  into 
the  buds  and  partly  expanded  flowers. 
60 


61 

In  the  records  above  cited  the  species  has  always  been  referred  to 
as  Colaspis  tristis.  Until  the  year  1892,  when  Dr.  Horn  revised  the 
Eumolpini  (Trans.  Amer.  Ent.  Soc,  Vol.  XIX).  the  above  Dame  coin- 
prised  four  species,  all  of  similar  distribution,  but  with  somewhat 
different  food  habits.  They  may  now  be  separated  as  regards  known 
food  plants  as  follows: 

N.  tristis  Ol:  On  Lespedeza,  Ceanothus,  and  other  upland  weeds 
(Hamilton). 

JV.  clypealis  Horn:  On  Ambrosia  trifida  in  river  bottoms. 

.A7  convexa  Say:  In  the  same  situations  (Hamilton). 

N.  pimcticollis  Say:  On  wild  and  cultivated  roses,  blackberry,  rasp- 
berry, strawberry,  and  red  clover. 

Unfortunately,  observations  noted  by  the  writer  and  others  for 
Colaspis  tristis  include  both  puncticollis  and  the  true  tristis.  This 
much  is  certain,  however,  that  the  species  particularly  attached  to  the 
Rosacea?  is  Nodonota puncticollis  Say.  It  is  most  abundant  on  the  wild 
rose,  which,  as  it  appears  to  be  the  favorite  food  plant  of  the  adult,  is 
l^robably  also  that  of  the  larva,  which  is  undoubtedly  a  root  feeder  like 
other  species  of  Eumolpini.  As  no  English  name  appears  to  have  been 
bestowed  upon  this  species,  it  is  proposed  to  call  it  the  rose  leaf-beetle. 
Next  after  the  rose,  <bhe  petals  and  leaves  of  species  of  Bubus  and  IYa- 
garia  appear  to  be  preferred  by  the  beetle  of  this  species.  The  writer 
first  noticed  its  abundance  on  wild  roses  at  Ithaca,  X.  Y.,  in  1883,  on 
blackberry  on  Staten  Island,  New  York,  in  188(3,  and  on  strawberry  at 
Washington,  I).  C,  in  1891,  the  same  year  that  Dr.  Riley  found  it  so 
troublesome  on  cultivated  roses.  The  strawberry  it  injured  by  feeding 
in  the  axils  of  the  newly-opened  leaves;  blackberries  it  damaged  by 
voraciously  devouring  the  petals  of  the  flowers  as  well  as  the  leaves. 
The  writer  has  also  seen  the  beetles  feeding  upon  the  heads  of  red 
clover. 

This  beetle  measures  a  little  more  than  an  eighth  of  an  inch.  Its 
usual  color  is  green,  but  it  is  sometimes  blue  or  olivaceous  and  also 
somewhat  bronzy.  It  is  moderately  shining  and  the  legs  are  piceous. 
For  its  further  identification  the  accompanying  illustration  (fig. 39)  has 
been  prepared.  Prom  other  species  of  the  genus  it  differs  chiefly  by 
being  somewhat  more  oblong  and  convex.  The  punctures  of  the  pro- 
thorax  are  substrigose  and  the  elytra  have  a  distinct  umbonal  costa. 

An  effort  was  made  during  the  season  of  1891  to  rear  this  insect  from 
the  eg;^  on  potted  plants  but  without  success.  The  earlier  stages  and 
life  history  are  unknown,  but  it  is  probable  that  in  most  essential  par 
ticulars  it  resembles  Colaspis  brunnea. 

The  distribution  accorded  it    by   Dr.   Horn   (1.  c.  p.   232)   is  "from 
Pennsylvania  and  westward  to  Kansas.  Dakota,  and   .Montana,  south 
ward  to  North  Carolina."     In  the  writer's  collection  is  also  a  series  from 
Ithaca  and  Staten  Island,  New  York,  Orange,  N.  .1..  and  Arizona. 


A  CASE  OF  EXCESSIVE  PARASITISM. 
By  L.  O.  Howard. 

June  17, 1896,  the  writer  received  from  Dr.  James  Fletcher,  of  Ottawa, 
four  little  twigs  of  Arbor  vitce  carrying  specimens  of  the  handsome  Le- 
canium  which  Professor  Cockerell  has  named  L.  fletcheri,  in  honor  of 
the  able  Dominion  entomologist.  A  few  of  the  scales  contained  the 
exit  holes  of  parasites,  and  the  twigs  were  therefore  placed  in  a  small 
glass  jar  to  save  other  parasites  which  might  issue. 

By  June  27,  ten  days  later,  no  less  than  127  parasites  had  emerged. 
The  scales  were  then  counted  and  were  found  to  be  80  in  all.  The 
holes  in  the  scales  were  found  to  number  180,  so  that  many  parasites 
must  have  issued  before  they  were  received  at  Washington.  Xor  does 
the  number  of  exit  holes  indicate  definitely  the  whole  number  of  para- 
sites, since  I  have  frequently  known  more  than  one  parasite  to  issue 
from  a  single  hole. 

The  results  of  the  examination  of  the  scales  may  be  tabulated  as 
follows : 


Specimens. 

No.  of 

exit  holes 

in  each. 

Total 

number 

exit  holes. 

18                                       

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
9 
0 

18 

24 

48 

14 

42 

7     

28 

2 

10 

3 

18 

1 

7 

1 

9 

10 

0 

Total  number  of  specimens 

Aggregate  number  of  exit  holes 


Of  the  10  specimens  in  which  no  exit  holes  were  found,  5  were  dis- 
covered, upon  dissection,  to  contain  dead  parasites;  3  were  immature, 
and  had  died  from  some  undiscoverable  cause;  while  with  the  remain- 
ing 2  the  eggs  had  evidently  developed  and  hatched.  The  total  result 
is,  then,  a  parasitism  to  the  extent  of  97i  per  cent. 

Even  up  to  this  point  the  case  is  an  interesting  one,  and  affords  an 
instance  of  extreme  parasitism  such  as  is  seldom  found.  When  the 
parasites  were  mounted  up  and  studied,  however,  the  exceptional — in 
fact  unique — character  of  the  occurrence  became  evident.  Xo  less  thau 
0  distinct  species  of  primary  parasites  of  5  distinct  genera  were  found 
among  them,  and  not  a  single  hyperparasite.  This  would  have  been 
most  remarkable  had  it  occurred  in  Southern  California  or  the  tropical 
toe  of  Florida,  but  coming  from  the  cold  climate  of  Ottawa  it  is  little 
less  than  astonishing.     When  one  reflects  that  there  is  hardly  a  species 

62 


63 

of  scale  insect  which  is  known  throughout  the  whole  of  its  geographical 
range  (and  many  of  them  are  now  cosmopolitan)  to  have  as  many  species 
of  parasites  as  this,  and  that  these  all  came  from  a  single  Locality,  nay, 
from  a  single  hedge,  and,  in  fact,  from  a  single  branch,  how  extraordi- 
nary it  is!  Further,  they  issued,  not  in  different  seasons,  hut  all  in 
practically  the  same  week  and  from  the  offspring  of  probably  a  single 
mother  Lecanium. 
The  list  follows : 

1.  Coccophagus  cognatus  How.,  $ 2 

2.  Coccophagus  fletcher  in.  sp.,  9  1 

3.  Aphyoua  pulvinarise  How.,  9 4 

4.  Encyrtna  flavua  How.,  $  4 

Encyrtus  flavoe  How.,  9  2 

5.  Chilonenrus  albicornis  How.,  9 fi 

6.-  Blastothrix  longipennis  How.,  $    Il' 

Blastothrix  Longipennis  How.,  9    66 

The  writer's  previous  knowledge  of  these  species  has  been  about  as 
follows: 

No.  1.  Hosts. — Lecanium  hesperidum,  Lee.  cerasifex,  Lee.  persiosB. 

Localities. — District  of  Columbia ;  Bramley,  ( hitario ;  Lakeshore  and  Mapleville,  M<1. 

No.  3.  Hosts. — Pulvinai'ia  innumerabilis,  Lecanium  llettberi  (former  Bending.) 

Localities. — Davenport,  la.;  Ottawa,  Canada. 

No.  4.    Hosts. — Lecanium  liesperidum,  Lee.  cerasifex,  Lee.  sp. 

Localities. — Los  Angeles,  Cal. ;  Champaign,  111.;  Wooster,  <  >lii<>. 

No.  5.  Hosts. — Lecanium  sp.,  on  pine;  Lee.  caryse,  Leo.  sp.,  on  Qnercna  aqnatica; 
Kermes  sp.,  $  on  oak. 

Localities — District  of  Columbia;  Davenport,  Iowa;  Blnffton,  8.  C. :  Kirkwood, 
Mo.:   England  ( ?). 

No.  6.  Hosts. — Lecanium  robiniarum.  Lee.  spp.  undetermined. 

Localities. — District  of  Columbia  ;  Agricultural  College,  Micbigan  ;  England. 

I  need  only  add  that  if  collectors  wish  specimens  of  Lecanium  fletcher  % 
it  will  be  well  to  apply  to  Dr.  Fletcher  at  once,  as  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  his  Arbor  vitcs  hedge  will  be  comparatively  free  from 
scales  next  season.  * 

Coccophagus  fletcheri  n.  sp. 

/•',  male. — Length. 0.8  mm.;  expanse,  1.65 mm.;  antenna]  scape  slender, 

cylindrical,  not  reaching  to  middle  ocellus;  pedicel  and  first  funicle 
joint  snbequal  in  length,  the  latter  slightly  wider;  funicle  joints  2  and 
3  each  slightly  Longer  than  1.  snbeqnal  in  length,  increasing  very 
slightly  in  breadth;  club  long  ovate,  not  flattened,  nearly  as  long  as 
whole  funicle:  entire  tlagellum  with  close,  short,  line  pile  and  sparse 
longitudinal  canine;  mesoscutum  and  axilla-  faintly  shagreenedj  head 
and  scntellum  smooth:  eyes  hairy:  bristles  of  head  and  mesonotum 
black;  color  moderately  bright  yellow:  eyes  and  ocelli  coral  red;  tip  of 
scape  and  all  of  flagellum,  border  of  pronotnm,  tip  of  tegnlse,  border 
of  metanotnm,  and  incomplete  bands  between  abdominal  segments, 
fuscous;  wings  hyaline,  veins  ftlSCOUS, 

One  female.  Coll.  U.  8.  Nat.  Mus..  from  Lecanium  fleUheri^  received 

from  Ottawa,  Canada,  Dr.  James  Fletcher. 


THE  WALNUT  SPANWORM. 

(Boarmia  plumigeraria  Hulst.) 
By  D.  W.  Coquillett. 

In  former  times  it  was  quite  generally  believed  that  the  walnut  tree 
was  singularly  free  from  the  attacks  of  leaf-eating  iusects.  So  pro- 
nounced was  this  belief  that  even  economic  entomologists  of  note 
recommended  making  a  strong  decoction  of  its  leaves  and  spraying  this 
upon  other  trees  and  plants  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  them  from 
the  attacks  of  leaf-eating  insects.  While  this  supposed  immunity  from 
insect  attack  may  hold  true  in  regard  to  our  native  species,  this  is  not 
the  case  with  the  imported  English  walnut,  as  events  in  a  certain  local- 
ity in  California  have  abundantly  proven  during  the  last  few  years. 
This  tree  is  quite  extensively  grown  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State, 
and  in  proportion  to  the  care  bestowed  upon  it  from  a  cultural  point  of 
view  yields  a  larger  revenue  than  any  other  nut  or  fruit  tree  grown  in 
that  region. 

During  the  early  summer  of  the  year  1890  there  appeared  in  very 
large  numbers  a  spanworm  not  heretofore  known  to  be  injurious,  and 
attacked  the  leaves  of  English  walnut  trees  in  Santa  Barbara  County, 
Cal.  Nearly  every  tree  in  a  grove  of  20  acres  was  attacked  by  them, 
but  they  were  most  numerous  near  the  center  of  the  grove,  which 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  they  had  been  present  in  former  years,  but 
not  in  sufficient  numbers  to  attract  attention.  The  trees  measured 
about  30  feet  in  height,  and  the  branches  expanded  about  40  feet;  and 
quite  a  large  number  of  them  had  been  almost  defoliated  by  the  span- 
worms.  The  owner  of  the  grove  had  himself  planted  and  cared  for  it, 
but  had  never  previously  observed  any  spanworms  upon  it,  and,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  female  moths  are  wingless,  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  account  for  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  worms  in  such  unusual 
numbers. 

The  eggs  from  which  these  spanworms  hatch  are  of  a  dark  grayish- 
drab  color,  with  a  strong  brassy  tinge  •  they  are  flattened  oval,  as  if 
compressed  between  the  thumb  and  finger;  the  surface  is  quite  rough, 
and  bears  numerous  minute  transverse  ridges;  at  each  end  are  many 
rather  shallow  punctures,  and  the  egg  measures  about  five-sixths  of  a 
millimeter  in  length.  They  are  attached  to  the  smaller  twigs  by  one  of 
their  flattened  sides  in  loose,  irregular  patches,  and  are  not  arranged 
in  any  given  order.  Sometimes  as  many  as  200  eggs  are  deposited  in  a 
single  patch  or  cluster. 
64 


65 


The  eggs  are  deposited  from  January  to  April,  and  hatch  out  in  from 
ten  days  to  two  weeks  from  the  time  they  are  deposited.  As  booh  as 
hatched  the  young  worms  begin  to  feed  upon  the  tender  Leaves,  and, 

when  disturbed,  let  themselves  down  and  hang  suspended  in  the  air 
by  silken  threads,  after  the  manner  of  other  spanworms.  They  are 
then  of  a  blackish  color,  with  a  row  of  whitish  spots  along  each  side  of 
the  body  and  a  pair  of  smaller  whitish  spots  on  each  side  of  the  first 
three  sutures  of  the  abdominal  segments.  They  are  furnished  with 
only  five  pairs  of  legs.  When  about  five  days  old  they  casl  the  skin 
for  the  first  time,  repeating  the  operation  at  the  expiration  of  another 
five  days,  and  twice  again  at  Intervals  of  about  three  days  apart, 
there  being  tour  molts  or  castings  of  the  skin  before  the  worms  trans- 
form to  pupa1. 

One  of  the  full-grown  worms  is  shown  enlarged  in  the  accompanying 
figure  (40, a).  The  color  is  a  light  pinkish  gray,  varied  with  a  darker 
gray  or  purplish,  or  sometimes  with  black  and  yellow,  but  never  marked 
with  distinct  lines:  the  piliferous 
spots  are  black  or  dark  brown,  and 
the  spiracles  are  orange  yellow, 
ringed  with  black  and  usually  sit- 
uated on  a  yellow  spot.  The  worms 
become  full-grown  in  the  latter 
part  of  April  or  during  the  month 
of  May;  they  then  enter  the  earth 
to  a  depth  of  from  2  to  4  inches  and 
form  small  cells,  but  do  not  spin 
cocoons.  The  change  to  the  chry- 
salis takes  place  shortly  after  the 
cells  are  completed,  and  the  chrys- 
alids  remain  unchanged  through- 
out the  entire  summer  and  until  early  in  the  following  year,  when  they 
are  changed  into  moths,  which  emerge  from  the  ground  from  the  first 
week  in  January  to  the  last  week  in  March.  The  male  moth  is  winged, 
but  the  female  is  wingless  and  is  so  very  different  in  appearance  from  the 
male  that  no  one  not  familiar  with  the  facts  in  the  case  would  ever  sus- 
pect that  both  belong  to  the  same  species.  Both  sexes  are  represented 
in  the  accompanying  illustration  (fig.  41),  where  a  represents  the  male 
and  b  the  female  moth  enlarged,  the  natural  size  being  indicated  by  the 
slender  lines.  The  species  was  originally  described  from  a  male  speci- 
men. The  discovery  that  the  female  is  wingless  will  necessitate  remov- 
ing it  from  the  genus  Boarmia  and  locating  it  near  Niigalia. 

This  insect  has  thus  far  been  found  only  in  California  and  Oregon. 
besides  attacking  the  leaves  of  the  English  walnut,  the  writer  has 
found  these  spanworms  feeding  upon  the  leaves  of  the  apple,  prune, 
and  oak  (Quercus  agri/olia  .  There  i-  ;i  strong  probability  that  this 
insect  is  a  native  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  where  it  originally  fed  upon  the 
8967— No.  7 5 


Fia.AO.— Boarmia  jihimi'jeraria:  a,  larva— twice 
natural  size;  h,  fifth  and  sixth  segments,  lateral 
view  ;  c,  seventh  segment,  from  above — more  en- 
larged (original). 


66 

leaves  of  the  oak  above  mentioned,  and  that  it  has  only  within  recent 
years  acquired  a  taste  for  the  leaves  of  cultivated  trees. 

At  least  one  species  of  Tachina  fly  and  a  small  four-winged  ichneumon 
fly  belonging  to  the  genus  Apanteles  prey  upon  these  span  worms;  the 
small,  white,  silken  cocoon  of  the  last-named  parasite  may  occasionally 
be  found  attached  to  the  trunk  of  an  infested  tree,  and  near  it  the 
shrunken  body  of  the  spanworm  in  which  the  larva  of  the  parasite  had 
lived.  Quite  a  large  number  of  the  spanworms  are  also  destroyed  by 
birds,  notably  by  the  different  kinds  of  blackbirds,  which  appear  to  be 
particularly  fond  of  them. 


Fig. 41. — Boarmia plumigeraria :  a,  male  moth;  b,  female— twice  natural  size  (original). 

Eepeated  experiments  demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  most  efficient 
remedy  for  the  destruction  of  these  spanworms  consists  in  spraying 
the  infested  trees  with  Paris  green  and  water,  at  the  rate  of  1  pound  of 
the  poison  to  200  gallons  of  water.  This  strength  was  found  to  be  fatal 
to  the  worms,  while  the  foliage  was  not  injured  by  it.  About  10  or  12 
pounds  of  soap  should  be  dissolved  in  each  100  gallons  of  this  solution, 
in  order  to  cause  it  to  spread  freely  over  the  foliage.  Almost  any  kind 
of  soap,  either  soft  or  hard,  will  answer  this  purpose.  Care  should  be 
exercised  that  the  trees  be  sprayed  when  the  worms  are  first  hatched 
out.  At  this  time  a  very  little  of  the  poison  will  prove  fatal  to  them, 
whereas  the  nearly  full-grown  worms  will  consume  a  large  number  of 
the  poisoned  leaves  before  succumbing  to  the  effects  of  the  poison. 


INSECT   INJURY   TO    CHESTNUT  AND    PINE   TREES  IN  VIRGINIA 
AND  NEIGHBORING  STATES. 

By  P.  II.  <  'mil  i:\din. 

Recent  years  have  witnessed  extensive  destruction  of  the  pine  and 
spruce  forests  in  the  United  States,  particularly  in  that  portion  of  the 

South  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountain  range,  and  to  a  lesser  extent 
of  chestnut  trees  in  the  same  and  other  regions.  This  injury  has  been 
very  generally  attributed  to  insects,  and  there  is  evidence  that  certain 
wood  and  bark  boring  speeies  have  largely  contributed  to  the  work  of 
demolition.  The  death  of  the  chestnuts  has  been  laid  to  the  account 
of  the  buprestid,  Agrilus  bilineatus  Weber,  while  the  destruction  of 
the  coniferous  trees  has  in  like  manner  been  credited  to  the  scolytid 
bark-beetle,  Dendroctonus  frontalis  Zimm. 

The  writer  has  always  felt  a  certain  degree  of  skepticism  as  to 
whether  perfectly  healthy  forest  growth  would,  save  in  exceptional 
cases  like  the  present,  succumb  to  insect  attack,  and  were  not  this  view- 
shared  by  others  it  might  sound  like  heresy  to  say  that  the  insects 
mentioned  are  perhaps  not  the  original  cause  of  the  injury.  There  is 
more  than  a  suspicion  that  a  predisposing  agency  has  been  at  work  in 
causing  a  weakened  condition  of  the  timber  of  the  infested  region. 
Whatever  has  brought  this  about,  there  is  every  appearance  that  the 
insects  in  question  have  multiplied  in  such  numbers  that  they  were 
forced  to  attack  living,  if  not  healthy,  plants  or  perish,  as  they  belong- 
to  groups  that  do  not  develop  in  timber  that  has  been  dead  long  enough 
for  the  bark  to  become  separated  from  the  wood. 

Such  an  enfeebled  condition  as  suggested  might  be  caused  by  bacte- 
rial or  fungous  disease;  or  it  might  be  due  to  a  variety  of  other  ele- 
ments, among  which  might  be  numbered  too  close  growth,  defective 
drainage,  insufficiency  or  a  superabundance  of  subterranean  moist  inc. 
too  great  dryness,  or.  again,  it  might  be  produced  by  a  dry  spell  sud- 
denly following  an  unusually  wet  one.  or  vice  versa.  In  the  promt 
case  it  seems  more  than  probable  that  the  soil  had  undergone  some 
change  that  lias  interfered  with  the  growth  of  the  trees, or  thai  a  com- 
bination of  unfavorable  atmospheric  and  soil  conditions  has  accom- 
plished the  supposed  predisposing  debility.  The  withering  and  dying 
of  leaves  induced  by  a  spell  of  hot,  dry  weather  following  cool,  moist 
weather,  and  known  as  sun  scald,  might  be  provocative  of  the  debili- 
tated condition  favorable  to  the  attacks  of  these  borers.  Possibly 
"pine  blight,"  or  what  is  known  as  W  inter  desiccation,  the  latter  occur- 
ring in  mild,  dry  winters  following  autumn  droughts,  and  particularly 
a tlec ting  conifers,  might  explain  the  original  injury  to  this  class  of 

67 


68 

A  peculiar  and  interesting  feature  of  what  we  may  call  the  primary 
insect  injury  is  that  it  is  due  very  largely  to  native  species  not  previ- 
ously known  to  be  injurious;  in  fact,  the  principal  pine-destroying 
insect,  Dendroctonus  frontalis,  is  even  at  the  present  time  comparatively 
rare  in  collections.  Another  singular  fact  is  that  the  invading  forces 
disappeared  as  suddenly  as  they  came,  and,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
we  are  as  ignorant  of  the  reason  for  the  insects'  disappearance  as  we 
are  of  the  inducing  cause. 

As  usual  in  so  many  similar  instances,  these  cases  of  forest-tree 
injuries  were  not  brought  to  the  attention  of  entomologists  until  too 
late  for  thorough  investigation  or  experiment. 

December  7,  1891,  Mr.  W.  H.  Farley  wrote  that  chestnut  trees  in 
Botetourt  County,  Va.?  were  suffering  from  the  attacks  of  wood-boring 
insects,  and  although  no  specimens  were  obtained  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  Agrilus  bilineatus  was  concerned. 

The  following  year  Hon.  Gardiner  G.  Hubbard  sent  a  piece  of 
the  bark  of  chestnut  from  his  suburban  residence  in  the  district  of 
Columbia  from  which  were  reared  the  ensuing  spring  specimens  of  A. 
bilineatus. 

During  June  of  1893  Mr.  A.  J.  Wedderburn,  an  extensive  landowner 
in  Virginia,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Washington,  D.  C,  reported  seri- 
ous injuries  from  insects  to  trees,  particularly  chestnut  and  pine,  on  his 
property.  An  investigation  as  to  the  cause  was  requested,  and  the 
writer  with  Mr.  W.  H.  Ashmead  was  detailed  to  visit  the  principal 
infested  locality,  which  is  situated  in  Fairfax  County,  about  17  miles 
from  Washington,  and  now  known  as  Wedderburn.  The  notes  that  fol- 
low are  mainly  the  result  of  these  and  subsequent  visits  that  were  made 
in  succeeding  years  to  localities  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington,  where 
iujuries  to  chestnut  had  been  observed,  but  in  spite  of  every  effort  no 
additional  facts  of  value  were  learned  and  no  opportunity  offered  for 
continuing  the  observations  begun  in  1893.  It  was  in  the  hope  that 
the  full  life  economy  of  the  principal  depredator,  which  proved  to  be  the 
buprestid  beetle,  Agrilus  bilineatus,  might  be  traced,  as  well  as  the 
causes  that  led  up  to  the  attack  of  this  insect,  that  the  publication  of 
these  notes  has  been  deferred.  In  June,  1896,  another  visit  was  made 
to  Wedderburn,  but  the  Agrilus  could  not  be  found  at  this  time,  and 
as  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  that  an  opportunity  for  the  further 
study  and  possible  solution  of  the  perplexing  problem  will  be  afforded 
it  has  been  deemed  desirable  that  such  facts  as  are  available  be  placed 
on  record. 

BORER   INJURY    TO    CHESTNUT   TREES. 

The  first  visits  to  Wedderburn  were  made  June  G  and  8,  1893.  The 
principal  damage  was  to  chestnut  (Castanea  dentata)  and  scrub  pine 
(Pinus  inops),  though  very  general  injury  to  cedar  and  sassafras  was 
also  noticed. 


69 

The  injury  to  chestnut  was  almost  universal,  the  majority  of  the 
infested  trees  having  been  recently  killed— within  a  year  or  two— few- 
having  been  dead  more  than  two  or  three  years.  The  origin  of  tin- 
trouble  may  thus  be  traced  back  to  about  t  he  \  ear  L890  or  L891,  or  pos- 
sibly a  year  or  two  earlier. 

The  estimated  damage  was  placed  by  Mr.  Wedderburn  at  abonl  75 
per  cent  for  this  vicinity,  and  he  further  stated  thai  a  similar  condition 
of  affairs  existed  at  this  time  in  neighboring  forests  of  the  surrounding 
region.  This  was  subsequently  verified  by  the  writer  in  conversation 
with  other  landholders  of  this  and  adjoining  counl  ies. 

Two  chestnut  trees  that  had  been  attacked  lmt  were  still  Living  were 
felled,  the  bark  stripped  off.  and  the  galleries  of  Agrilus  bilineatus 
exposed.  These  galleries  run  mainly  transversely  just  under  the  bark 
and  are  in  length  from  ()  to  10  inches.  Although  none  were  found  that 
completely  encircled  the  tree,  the  result  is  practically  that  of  girdling, 
through  the  combined  work  of  many  different  individuals. 

Prom  the  manner  of  the  insect's  work  it  can  not  be  otherwise  than 
exceedingly  injurious,  as  it  undoubtedly  stops  the  Mow  of  sap,  cuts  off 
the  natural  supply  of  plant  food  and  moist  tire,  and  greatly  weakens  and 
eventually  kills  the  tree.  The  galleries  occur  from  the  base  of  the 
trees  well  up  toward  the  top. 

The  Agrilus  was  rather  common  on  the  foliage  of  both  chestnut  and 
oak,  and  a  few  larva1  and  adtdts  that  had  not  yet  issued  were  found 
under  the  bark  of  dead  trees,  but  in  the  living  trees  tin-  insects  had 
evidently  long  before  left  the  Avood  and  had  either  issued  or  were  still 
in  the  bark,  as  none  were  to  be  found  after  long  search.  Their  charac- 
teristic galleries  and  exit  holes,  however,  were  noticed  in  all  of  the 
dead  and  dying  chestnuts  examined.  From  the  observed  fact  that  no 
other  insect  was  present  in  any  number  in  the  infested  trees  that  were 
still  living  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  damage  to  the  chestnuts 
is  caused  chiefly  by  Agrilus  bilineatus,  although,  as  stated  in  a  pre- 
vious paragraph,  it  is  more  than  probable,  judging  from  what  is  known 
of  this  and  other  similar  bark-boring  beetles,  that  the  trees  are  first 
enfeebled  from  some  other  cause.  A  reason  that  may  be  adduced  for 
this  belief  IS  that  this  buprestid  is  better  known  as  an  enemy  of  the 
oak,  yet  the  trees  of  this  genus  did  not  show  any  evidence  of  attack, 
while  the  chestnuts  were  evidently  all  infested.  Chestnut  trees  were 
also  dying  in  the  District,  and  it  seems  probable  that  this  trouble  is 
widespread.  It  is  obvious  that  only  the  earlier  stage  of  the  larva  is 
passed  between  the  bark  and  the  wood:  indeed,  it  is  likely  that  the 
entire  life  of  the  insecl  may  be  passed,  in  some  instances  at  least, 
entirely  within  the  bark. 

The  pupal  chamber  is  evidently  always  constructed  in  the  barb  of 
living  trees,  but  was  also  found  in  the  wood  just  under  tin-  bark  of 
small  dead  trees.  In  larger  tree-  the  last  portion  of  the  larval  gallery 
is  longitudinal  and  carried   up  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  outer 


70 

surface,  when  it  gradually  curves  until  this  surface  is  nearly  met.  This 
last  portion  forms  the  pupal  cell,  and  is  wholly  unlike  the  exit  chamber 
of  any  other  borer  that  the  writer  has  seen  on  chestnut. 

Later  in  the  month,  when  the  observations  were  made  in  the  vicinity 
of  Washington,  the  writer  was  in  charge  of  the  exhibit  of  the  Division 
of*  Entomology  at  the  Columbian  Exposition.  During  his  stay  there 
Mr.  J.  S.  Raymond  brought  in  two  large  specimens  of  the  work  of  what 
was  undoubtedly  the  same  insect  in  oak,  with  the  report  that  damage 
of  this  nature  was  quite  extensive  in  northern  Illinois.  The  infested 
specimens  were  from  Mr.  H.  E.  Hamilton,  Richmond,  111.,  where  they 
were  attacking  oaks  growing  thickly  together  on  a  lawn.  Similarly 
affected  trees  were  noticed  at  the  same  time  by  Mr.  G.  B.  Sud worth,  of 
this  Department,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. ;  also  by 
Mr.  A.  D.  Hopkins,  entomologist  of  the  West  Virginia  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station,  who  reported  the  occurrence  in  Insect  Life  (Yol. 
VII,  p.  145),  as  follows: 

Quite  a  serious  trouble,  affecting  different  species  of  oak  in  and  around  Madison 
[Wis.],  was  observed,  which  caused  the  death  of  isolated  and  groups  of  trees  of 
different  ages.  Upon  examination,  I  found  the  larva  of  Agrilus  biliveatus  quite  com- 
mon in  the  bark  of  most  of  those  that  were  just  commencing  to  die.  I  also  observed 
what  appeared  to  be  this  same  trouble  at  different  points  through  Ohio,  Wisconsin 
and  Indiana ;  and  upon  my  return  to  West  Virginia  I  noticed  a  number  of  trees  dying 
in  the  same  manner;  one  of  which  I  examined,  September  10,  and  found  the  larva 
of  the  same  Agrilus  mining  through  the  inner  living  bark  and  outer  sapwood. 
From  what  I  have  observed  up  to  the  present  date  with  reference  to  the  habits  of 
this  insect,  it  is  very  evident  to  me  that  it  is  capable  of  attacking  and  killing  healthy 
oak  and  chestnut  trees,  and  should  the  conditions  at  any  time  be  especially  favor- 
able for  its  increase  I  anticipate  that  serious  trouble  will  result  from  its  attack. 

Of  this  species  the  same  writer  remarks  in  the  Canadian  Entomolo- 
gist for  October,  1896  (Vol.  XXVIII,  p.  246),  that  until  the  fall  of  1895 
"the  dying  of  trees  with  which  this  insect  was  intimately  associated 
was  decidedly  on  the  increase."  In  the  vicinity  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  on  the  contrary,  this  condition  has  been  constantly  decreas- 
ing for  at  least  the  last  three  years. 

THE   SPECIES   BRIEFLY   DESCRIBED. 

For  the  identification  of  the  beetle  and  its  larva  the  accompanying 
illustration  (fig.  42)  is  presented.  The  beetle,  shown  at  a,  is  elongate 
and  subcylindrical,  like  others  of  its  genus.  It  is  black,  with  a  more 
or  less  greenish  tinge.  The  sides  of  thorax  and  elytra  are  clothed  with 
a  light  golden-yellow  pubescence,  and  the  elytra  are  each  marked  with  a 
stripe  of  the  same  color.  An  enlarged  antenna  is  shown  at  the  left  (a), 
and  below  are  the  claws  of  the  hind  feet  of  both  sexes.  The  larva, 
drawn  to  the  same  scale  as  the  beetle,  is  illustrated  at  c.  It  is  long, 
slender,  and  considerably  flattened.  In  color  it  is  milk  white  or  slightly 
yellowish,  except  the  mouth-parts  and  the  peculiar  anal  fork,  which  are 
dark  brown. 


71 

The  distribution  accorded  this  species  by  Dr.  Horn  comprises  the 
United  States  from  Maine  to  Texas  and  westward  to  the  Rocky  .Moun- 
tains. 

PARASITIC    ENEMIES. 


This  borer  undoubtedly  lias  many  insect  enemies,  aa  several  genera  of 
parasitic  Hymenoptera  arc  known  to  attack  species  of  the  same  genus. 
Of  the  parasitic  species  observed  in  this  vicinity,  Spathius  simillimut 
Ashm.  was  the  most  abundant,  and  is  an  undoubted  parasite  of  Agrilus 
bilineatu89  as  the  circumstances  of  its  capture  in  the  galleries  of  this 
buprestid  indicate.  It  was  exceedingly 
abundant  at  Wedderburn  in  1893,  and  prob- 
ably played  an  important  role  in  reducing 
the  numbers  of  its  host.  One  other  parasite 
has  been  reared  with  this  species,  but  it  has 
not  been  identified  at  the  present  writing. 

OTHER   INSECTS    ON   CHESTNUT. 

A  considerable  number  of  other  insects 
were  observed  on  the  infested  chestnuts, 
principally  wood-boring  Coleoptera.  Many 
of  these  are  well-known  enemies  of  this  tree, 
but  the  list  includes  also  a  number  new  to 
the  chestnut.  Space  will  not  permit  of  the 
mention  of  more  than  a  few  of  the  more 
important  or  interesting  species  at  this  time. 
AVith  scarce  an  exception  they  were  only 
secondary  in  their  attacks  and  it  is  hardly  likely  that  more  than  a  very 
small  proportion  are  capable  of  initial  injury  to  trees.    The  list  follows : 

Urogr aphis  fasciatus  DeG. — This  cerambycid  was  the  most  abundant 
borer  in  chestnut.  It  occurred  in  all  stages  under  bark  of  recently 
dead  trees,  June  6  to  8.  Xo  imagos  had  issued  at  that  time.  Also 
reared  from  oak  and  maple. 

Leptura  zebra  Oh — Recorded  from  oak.  Found  in  different  seasons 
and  localities  in  abundance  on  the  foliage  of  chestnut. 

0hry8oboihr\8  6-signata  Say. — Found  with  Chrysobothris  femorata  on 
the  trunks  of  recently  felled  trees.  Beared  by  the  writer  from  beech: 
also  affects  the  birch. 

Alans  oeulatus  Linn. — Larva'  of  this  species  were  noticed  under  bark 
at  the  base  of  tr< 

Dendroid€8  <-<iii<t<h  nsis  Latr. — Occurred  in  all  BtagCS  and  in  sonic 
abundance  under  the  bark. 

Cryptorhynchus  bisignatus  Say. — Taken  on  trunk.  Previously  noticed 
by  the  writer  on  chestnut  and  beech;  probably  lives  in  bark. 

Gryptorhynchus  obtentw   Ilbst. — Isolated  examples  of  the  adults. 


Fig.  42— Agrilut  bilineatus:   a,  adult 
beetle;  &,antennaofsame;  ?, claws 

<»f  posterior  tarsi  of  female;  Q», 
same  of  male  ;  c,  larva — a,  andc,  en- 
Urged;  /',  ,/,  and  ^,  more  enlarged 
(original). 


72 

found  under  the  bark  of  chestnut,  maple,  and  hickory,  fed  freely  in 
confinement  on  pieces  of  the  bark,  one  example  living  from  May  24  to 
July  2. 

The  writer  has  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  larval  habits  of  these 
last  two  species,  but  it  may  be  surmised  that  they  live  under  or  in  the 
bark  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  C.  parochus  in  butternut. 

Plocamus  hispidulus  Lee. — Beaten  from  limbs,  and  probably  lives  on 
this  tree,  as  it  has  been  found  by  Mr.  Schwarz  breeding  in  the  "outer 
layers  of  nearly  dead  wood  "  of  locust. 

Dryoccetes  granicollis  Lee. — Two  colonies  observed  at  base  of  trees 
near  roots;  insect  in  all  stages,  mostly  pupa3  and  immature  imagos. 

Other  species  of  Cerambycidre,  found  at  Wedderburn  and  elsewhere 
on  chestnut,  have  been  reported  upon  by  the  writer  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Washington  (Vol.  Ill,  pp.  95-102), 
and  need  not  be  again  mentioned  at  any  length.  The  list  includes: 
Callidium  cvreum  Newm.;  Xylotreclius  colonus  Fab.,  and  its  parasite, 
Xylonomus  rileyi;  Neoclytus  erythrocephalus  Fab.,  and  its  parasite, 
Bracon  eurygaster;  Cyrtophorus  verrucosus  Ol. ;  Euderces  picipes  Fab. ; 
Leptostylus  macula  and  collaris;  Liopus  variegatus,  and  its  parasite, 
Ephialtes  irritator,  and  predaceous  enemy,  Tenebroides  corticalis;  and 
Eupogonius  vestitus  Say. 

DAMAGE   TO   PINES. 

A  year  or  two  before  the  reports  of  insect  damage  to  chestnut  trees, 
came  complaints  of  injuries  to  coniferous  trees  in  Virginia,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  District  of  Columbia.  The  first  of  these  was  from  Mr.  M.  H. 
Farley,  of  Strom,  Botetourt  County,  Va.,  who  wrote  October  26,  1891, 
of  the  "frightful  devastation"  in  the  pine  timber  of  that  State.  The 
scrub  pine  (Pinus  inops)  was  attacked  first,  and  it  was  thought  that 
unless  the  insect  was  checked  it  would  "soon  sweep  the  pine  timber 
from  the  State."  The  insect,  which  proved  to  be  Dendroctonus  frontalis, 
was  apparently  working  southward,  having  at  that  time  reached  the 
North  Carolina  line.  It  was  also  reported  present  in  white  pine  (P. 
strobus). 

During  September,  1892,  Messrs.  J.  E.  Beaty  &  Co.,  of  Crow,  W. 
Va.,  reported  that  the  same  insect  was  apparently  the  cause  of  the 
destruction  of  pines  in  Baleigh  County  of  that  State,  as  well  as  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

Other  reports  of  damage  reached  the  Department  during  the  next 
few  months,  one  of  which,  emanating  from  Port  Republic,  Va.,  was  the 
occasion  of  a  visit  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz  of  this  Division,  but  did  not 
result  in  the  finding  of  a  single  living  specimen  of  Dendroctonus  at  that 
place,  although  thousands  of  dead  beetles  were  in  evidence  of  their  pre- 
vious abundance  and  injuriousness.     This  was  in  August,  1893. 

One  result  of  this  trip  was  the  discovery  of  a  fungoid  disease  which 
manifested  its  presence  upon  the  dead  bodies  of  the  beetles  under  the 


73 

bark.  Mr.  Schwarz  is  of  the  opinion  that  this  disease  was  responsible 
for  the  sudden  disappearance  of  the  beetles. 

Mr.  S.  J.  Wood,  of  Washington,  Rappahannock  Comity,  Va.,  stated 
that  the  dying  of  pine  and  spruce  timber  in  thai  and  surrounding 
counties  was  very  extensive  a  few  years  since,  and  quite  generally 
recognized  throughout  the  pine  forest  land  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Samuel  K.  Behrend,  an  employee  of  the  Navy  I  department,  Bpent 
considerable  time  in  travel  through  the  Southern  States  of  this  r< 
while  the  infestation  was  al  its  height,  and  noticed  the  dying  off  of  mil- 
lions of  pine  trees  in  Virginia,  injury  being  particularly  noticeable  in 
Buckingham  County.   The  same  conditions  prevailed  in  North  Carolina. 

The  primary  cause  of  the  mortality  anion-  the  pine  trees  is  enshrouded 
in  as  much  mystery  as  in  the 
case  of  the  chestnuts.  Whether  due 
primarily  to  insects  or  not,  certain 
it  is  that  the  so-called  "destructive 
pine  bark-beetle  "(  Dendroetonus  fron- 
talis) did  great  damage  to  the  pine 
and  spruce  forests  of  this  part  of 
the  South. 

A  great  many  dead  pine  trees  in 

°#  ^  x  trio.  43. — Dendroetonus  frontalis :  a.  dorsal  view 

this   vicinity   were   Stripped    Of  their        of  beetle:   b,  lateral  view— enlarged  about  fl 

bark,  and   the   galleries  Of  this  Spe-        tim,S:  c-  Mtenna-greatly  enlarged  (origi- 

oal). 

cies,  together  with  the  dead  beetles, 

were  found  in  all.  A  noticeable  feature  of  the  insect  work  on  pine  was 
the  almost  entire  absence  of  the  galleries  of  other  common  scolytids, 
such  as  Tomicus  ccelatus.  In  one  spruce,  however,  T.  cacographus  was 
as  abundant  and  apparently  as  injurious  as  Dendroetonus. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  dwell  at  length  upon  the  subject  of  the  devas- 
tation of  pine  and  spruce  forests,  since,  as  previously  stated,  injuries 
were  reported  too  late  for  investigation,  and  the  principal  ascertained 
facts  in  the  matter  have  already  been  given  to  the  public  by  Mr.  Hop- 
kins in  the  columns  of  Insect  Life  and  elsewhere.1 

The  accompanying  illustration  ot  this  species  (fig.  43)  will  enable  its 
tuition.  It  resembles  the  species  ot'  its  genus  in  color,  ranging 
from  reddish  to  dark  brown,  but  it  may  be  readily  distinguished  from 
the  other  species  by  its  much  smaller  size,  which  is  one-eighth  of  an 
inch  or  slightly  longer.  An  enlarged  antenna  c  .  which  is  of  a  form 
characteristic  of  frontalis,  will  further  facilitate  its  identification. 

The  following  is  the  credited  distribution  of  the  Bpecies:  ••  Carolina" 
(Zimmermann) ;  "Lake  Superior  to  Georgia"  Le  Conte  ;  "California, 
Arizona,  Maryland"  Dietz).  To  this  must  be  added  the  District  of 
Columbia,  Virginia,  and  West  Virginia. 

'Since  the  above  was  id  type  Mr.  Hopkins  baa  informed  tin-  urin-r  that  he  now 
has  in  MSS.  a  lull  report  on  this  topic  which  will  i<>  the  public 


74 

OTHER  BORERS  AFFECTING   CONIFERS. 

Owing  to  the  absence  of  Dendrocionus  frontalis  at  the  time  its  investi- 
gation was  attempted,  little  time  was  devoted  to  the  boring  species 
affecting  coniferous  trees.  The  following,  however,  are  worthy  of 
mention : 

Leptostylus  commixtus  Hald. — Under  this  name  a  cerambycid  has 
been  included  in  Fitch's  list  of  pine  insects  of  ]ST ew  York  State,  on  the 
strength  of  the  occurrence  of  the  beetle  on  pine  leaves.  What  the 
writer  takes  to  be  the  same  species  was  reared  at  this  Department  from 
pieces  of  Pinus  inops  taken  at  Wedderburn,  Ya. 

Gra/phisurus  pusillus  Kby. — Taken  by  Mr.  Ashmead  under  bark  of 
Pinus  inops  in  an  oval,  cell-like  depression  prepared  by  the  larva  before 
pupating.     Wedderburu,  June,  1893.    A  rare  species. 

Acanthocinus  nodosus  Fab. — This  large,  showy  species  has  been 
recorded  to  occur  "  under  the  bark  of  pine  from  June  to  September," 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia  (Proc.  Ent.  Soc.  Phila.,  Vol.  I,  p. 
97),  and  is  ordinarily  of  rare  occurrence.  It  was  fairly  abundant  in 
the  streets  of  Washington  during  the  summers  of  1894  and  1895.  At 
one  time  a  half  dozen  individuals  were  noticed  under  a  single  electric 
light,  where  they  were  being  trodden  upon  by  pedestrians.  Without 
doubt  this  unusual  abundance  was  due  to  the  many  dead  trees  killed 
by  Dendroctonus  frontalis  in  the  vicinity. 

PROBABILITY  OF  FUTURE  DESTRUCTION  OF  FOREST  AND  SHADE  TREES. 

The  severe  windstorms  that  have  swept  over  the  South  Atlantic 
States  during  the  past  year,  particularly  that  of  September  29,  which 
was  the  severest  ever  known  in  this  region  and  caused  very  extensive 
destruction  of  forest  and  shade  trees,  will  doubtless  result  in  still 
greater  destruction  to  trees  through  the  opportunities  that  the  dead, 
dying,  or  injured  trees  afford  for  the  propagation  of  injurious  insects. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  wood-  and  bark-boring  insects  generally 
prefer  timber  that  has  been  recently  killed,  and  that  when  this  is  not 
available  they  will  attack  injured,  weakened,  or  even  healthy  growth. 

PREVENTIVE  AND  REMEDIAL   MEASURES   CONSIDERED. 

Such  owners  of  forest  land  as  have  sufficient  financial  interests  at 
stake  will  do  well  to  clear  up  the  dead,  and  trim  the  injured,  trees.  For 
the  protection  of  chestnuts  ail  dead  oaks  should  also  be  cleared  away 
and  burned,  and  the  same  is  true  in  the  case  of  pines  and  other  coni- 
fers. Much  can  be  accomplished  by  simply  removing  the  bark  of  the 
dead  timber.  The  injurious  species  require  as  a  rule  a  year  for  develop- 
ment. The  first  warm  days  of  April  and  May  will  see  the  first  numbers 
of  the  invading  host  upon  the  dead  and  injured  trees.  The  succeeding 
month  these  will  give  place  to  other  species,  and  by  the  end  of  July  the 
most  of  these  will  have  laid  their  eggs  in  cracks  and  crevices  in  and 
under  the  bark  and  have  disappeared. 


75 

Unfortunately,  in  too  many  cases  the  storm-killed  and  injured  trees 
will  be  carelessly  permitted  to  remain  as  a  nidus  for  borers,  and  when 
this  wood  becomes  too  dry  and  the  bark  too  Loose  for  the  Insects  those 
that  have  bred  in  them  will  emerge  and  migrate  to  aeighboring  trees. 

Before  the  following  spring  the  progeny  of  these  insects  will  have  so 
loosened  the  bark  that  it  may  easily  be  removed  and  binned,  thus 
destroying  millions  of  the  insects  before  they  have  an  opportunity  to 
issue  and  lay  their  eggs  for  the  destruction  of  valuable  trees. 

In  Europe  in  similar  eases  it  is  customary  for  foresters  to  girdle  a  few 
trees  here  and  there  and  leave  them  standing  as  traps  for  such  beetles 
as  may  not  have  been  destroyed  with  their  host  trees.  These  trees  in 
turn  are  decorticated  the  following  year  and  others  treated  in  like  man- 
ner should  appearances  indicate  the  advisability  of  this  course. 

Some  instances  were  noticed  of  chestnuts  infested  in  dooryards  and 
of  a  giant  spruce  near  a  public  building.  For  the  protection  of  valu- 
able shade  trees  against  borer  attacks  other  more  direct  measures  may 
be  employed.  A  light  coating  of  raupenleim  and  dendrolene  to  the 
trunks  and  lower  branches  would  answer  the  purpose  of  preventing 
the  deposition  of  eggs  at  this  point,  which  is  the  favorite  place  of  attack. 
while  a  heavier  application  would  prevent  the  egress  of  the  insects 
from  the  bark  should  the  trees  already  be  infested.  A  wash  of  lime  to 
which  a  small  quantity  of  Paris  green  and  a  sufficient  amount  of  glue 
to  render  it  adhesive  has  been  added  would  also  serve  a  good  purpose. 

Whatever  is  used  should  be  applied  just  before  the  first  warm  spell 
of  spring.  At  the  very  outset  of  an  attack  a  very  thin  application  of 
kerosene,  kerosene  emulsion,  or  creosote  by  lightly  brushing  or  spray- 
ing it  over  the  infested  parts  would  kill  the  beetles  with  which  it  came 
in  contact. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


A    LEAF-MINER    OF   TOBACCO. 


We  have  been  in  correspondence  with  Mr.  Gerald  McCarthy,  of  the 
North  Carolina,  station,  in  regard  to  a  leaf-miner  in  the  tobacco  fields 
of  that  State  which  may  be  a  somewhat  serious  enemy  to  this  impor- 
tant crop.  Prom  specimens  of  the  larvae  received  from  Mr.  McCarthy 
we  were,  enabled  to  rear  the  moth,  which  has  been  determined  for  us  by 
M  iss  Mnrtfeldt  as  Gelechia  piscipellis  Zell.  This  determination  reveals, 
what  we  had  from  the  first  suspected,  that  the  occurrence  of  the  leaf 
miner  in  tobacco  was  simply  an  instance  of  change  of  habit,  more  or 
less  accidental,  and  perhaps  not  permanent.  We  do  not  understand 
thai  the  damage  is  widespread,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  restricted 
to  a,  single  locality.  Just  as  the  plowing  up  of  rank-growing  sod  land 
and  planting  it  to  corn  frequently  results  in  a  serious  attack  upou 
the  corn  by  root  webworms,  billbugs,  and  other  insects,  and  just  as 
the  plowing  up  of  a  field  overrun  by  pigweed  has  resulted  in  an  attack 
upon  the  ensuing  crop  of  sugar  beets  by  the  sugar-beet  webworm,  so 
the  planting  to  tobacco  of  a  field  in  which  the  horse  nettle  had  been 
abundantwould  be  quite  likelyto  result  in  the  transference  of  the  atten- 
ionsof  the  horse-nettle  leaf-miners  to  the  leaves  of  tobacco.  Such  cases 
are  not  apt  to  recur  except  under  exactly  similar  conditions. 

A   CIALL-MAKING   COCC1D   IN   AMERICA. 

In  Science  for  September  4,  18<)<>  (Vol.  TV,  No.  88,  pp.  299-300), 
Mr.  T.  I).  A.  Cockerell  describes  Olliffiella  (n.  gen.)  cristicola  n.  sp. 
from  specimens  producing  galls  on  Quercus  wrightii,  at  IMnos  Altos, 
N.  Mex.,  collected  July  8,  1896.  The  genus  belongs  to  the  Idiococcime, 
a  group  of  sixteen  known  species,  all  confined  to  Australia,  except  one 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  one  in  Japan,  and  the  present  species. 

The  publication  of  this  note  reminds  us  (hat  specimens  of  this  same 
insect  were  sent  (o  the  Department  of  Agriculture  as  long  ago  as  May 
is,  L882,  and  that  a  figure  was  prepared  of  the  gall  by  (Ik1  late  Dr. 
George  Marx,  at  the  instance  of  I>r.  Riley.  The  figure  has  never  been 
published,  and  is  printed  herewith  (fig.  44).  The  notes  made  by  Mr. 
Pergande  on  its  receipt  were  as  follows: 

Received  May  L8,  L882,  Prom  II.  K.  Morrison.  Fort  Grant,  Ariz..  Borne  galls  on 
leaves  of  oak,  which  are  produced  by  a  braohyscelid  coocid.    This  Lathe  first  species 


1  For  bibliographical  purposes  it  should  be  stated  that  all  unsigned  notes  may  be 
credited  to  L,  0,  Howard. 

7(5 


«! 


W  ffi 


77 

belonging  to  t  bia  group  diaco\ ered  In  t hia  country .  :ill  other  Know  n  spech  b  belong- 
ing to  the  Australian  fauna.  The  galls  are  aituatedon  the  lower  aide  of  the  leaf, 
with  a  aearlj  closed  slit  on  the  upper  side,  rhe  mouth  of  tho  slit,  which  La  parallel 
with  the  midrib,  ia  beset  with  a  pale  grayiah  pnbeaoence,  The  gall  Itaell  la  quite 
.  somcw  bat  conical,  laterally  oompreaaed,  leaning  «>\  ar  to  one  aide,  and  ending 
in  ■  sli^hth  cm  vol  point,  the  vi  hole  reaembling  a  broad,  flat  tooth.  I  In 
on  one  Bide  and  orimaon  «>r  purpliah  on  the  other,  and  oloaelj  oovered  bj  a  ahorl 
grayiah  pubeaence  which  can  easily  be  rubbed  off,  Each  of  these  galla  coutalna  a1 
this  date  a  aingle  apecimeu,  which  r<  sts  in  the  lower  or  pointed  end  of  the  gall,  I  bej 
have  cast  at  leaatone  skin  and  some  evidently  two.  The  inaect  la  orange,  broad 
oval,  aomewhal  more  pointed  poateriorly,  and  with  n  fringe  of  ahorl  stifl  baira 
a  i  omul  the  whole  margin.    The  antennas  ere  ail  jointed,  the  third  being  the  lo 

I      .     small  ami  luow  n  :  pro 

boat  la  Btout .  reaching  be  i  \ 

t  w  een  middle  «  oxa? ;  legs 
stout  and  rather  short. 

Eta  eived  J  one  12, 
another  lot  of  theae  galla, 
whioh  are  no*  almoat 
WOOdj  and  quite  hard. 
Most  of  them  contain  the 
i  .  although  othera  are 
empty,  and  Borne  are  In- 
habited  i>\  a  lepidopteroua 

lai  \  a.     w  hi<  h     prej  a    upon 

the  coccid.  Thia  ooocid  ia 
■  most  remarkable  Inaect. 
Its  upper  or  doraal  aurface 

is  quite  llat  and  fttfl  rlosrlv 

to  the  \\  alls  oi  the  gall, 
and  around  the  \\  hole  mar- 
gin la  a  narrow  elevated 
ridge.  Tho  oolox  of  the 
doraum   is    dark    purpliah 

luow  n  and  is  allghl  Is   0O> 

ered  \\  Ith  a  delicate  prui 
uoae  Bubatance,  The  low  er 
or  ventral  side  ftllaenl  Irelj  the  lower  end  of  the  gall.     It  [a  orange  and  also  aomewhal 
oovered  with  a  meal ^  excretion.    The  legs  are  tree  and  movable,     No  larvaa 

wnc  found.  The  lepidopteron  is  purpliah,  the  head  brick  red,  oervical  shield  some 
what  paler  anteriorly,  with  a  broad  black  poaterior  margin.  Nio  bodj  is  marked 
eaoh  Bide  with  a  aomewhal  Irregular  ro^i  of  minute  whitiah  apota  and  similar  apota 
aorosa  the  middle  of  the  Begmenta.  rhe  venter  ia  pale  dirt  \  grayiah  yellow,  Length 
of  the  in  goal  about  7  mm. 

Received  Maj  25,  1883,  some  of  theae  galls  on  Q,  aetorjH  from  Mr.  Morrison,  Foil 
Huachw  a.  An. 


\ 


■-■*<? 


l'n..  ii      Gall  <>1   Ollijfitlla  cristata  at\  Qtntoiit  irrifjht 


hi  MAG  i     Bl     I  m     Willi  l     PINE    Bl    I  l  ER1  I  \  . 


Ai  the  meeting  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Washington,  held 
March  18,  1890,  Dr.  James  Fletcher,  the  Dominion  entomologist  oi 
Canada,  referred  to  an  outbreak  of  the  white  pine  butterfly  ( Neopl 
menapia)  in  the  elevated  arid  plateau  which  forms  the  interior  of  British 
Columbia,  The  larvai  of  this  insect,  according  to  Dr.  Fletcher,  in  this 
locality  feed  entirely  upon  the  leaves  of  the  yellow  or  bull  pine  I  Pinu$ 
pond*  rota  .  while  ;ii  \  ancoui  er  Island,  w  here  tins  pine  does  not  occur, 


78 

the  larvae  feed  on  the  foliage  of  the  Douglas  spruce  and  do  much  harm. 
In  both  cases  where  the  insect  was  observed  in  large  numbers  thepuprc 
were  found  to  be  parasitized  by  an  ichneumonid,  Theronia  fidvescens. 
The  descent  of  the  full-grown  larvse  from  trees  100  feet  high  by  a  silken 
thread  was  described. 

August  22,  specimens  of  this  insect  were  received  at  this  office  from 
Mr.  H.  D.  Langille,  of  Mount  Hood,  Oreg.,  with  a  letter  dated  August 
12,  which  stated  that  the  butterfly  appeared  that  day  at  Cloud  Cap 
Inn,  at  the  snow  line  on  Mount  Hood,  in  immense  numbers.  Two  years 
ago  the  insect  came  about  the  mountains  in  large  numbers,  seeming  to 
hover  about  the  evergreen  trees  mostly,  and  the  next  year  whole  acres 
of  the  nut  pine  (Pinus  monticola)  began  to  die,  presumably  on  account 
of  the  work  of  the  larvae  of  this  butterfly. 

A  week  later  specimens  of  the  same  insect  were  received  from  Mrs. 
W.  J.  Hess,  of  Goldendale,  Wash.,  with  the  statement  that  it  made  its 
appearance  during  1895  in  the  pine  timber  on  the  mountains  near  Gold- 
endale in  great  numbers,  in  some  places  falling  into  the  small  streams 
and  damming  them.  Some  hogs  pasturing  in  the  timber  died,  and, 
upon  examination,  their  stomachs  were  found  to  be  packed  with  the 
"moths."  It  was  noticed  that  year  that  the  pine  trees  where  the 
u  moths"  were  bore  no  cones,  while  a  few  trees  on  the  prairie  had  them 
as  usual.  The  trees  this  year  (1896),  according  to  Mrs.  Hess,  were 
infested  with  a  small  green  worm,  undoubtedly  the  larvse  of  this  but- 
terfly. For  about  a  month  in  midsummer  the  butterflies  were  noticed 
on  the  prairie  flying  southward  high  in  the  air. 

RECENT  DAMAGE  BY  THE   STRAWBERRY  WEEVIL. 

During  May  of  the  past  year,  too  late  as  usual  for  remedial  experi- 
mentation, complaints  were  received  of  injuries  by  the  strawberry  wee- 
vil {Anthonomus  signatus  Say)  from  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

May  2,  Mr.  G.  W.  Donaldson,  who  has  kindly  kept  me  informed  in 
previous  years  of  the  invasions  of  this  destructive  little  beetle  in  his 
neighborhood,  formerly  called  Dixie  Landing,  and  now  known  by  the 
somewhat  more  euphonious  title  of  Cherry  Dale,  reported  the  insect  in 
injurious  abundance  on  his  farm  and  on  those  of  his  neighbors  who 
grow  the  "  Jessie"  and  other  staminate  varieties  of  strawberry.  Some 
of  these  farmers  have  several  acres  in  strawberries  and  depend  chiefly 
upon  this  crop  for  a  livelihood. 

May  9,  specimens  of  strawberry  buds  showing  injury  by  this  species 
were  received  from  Mr.  Kichard  Mason,  Marshall,  Va.,  with  the  report 
that  nearly  his  entire  crop  had  been  destroyed  the  past  two  springs. 
In  1895  he  sprayed  with  a  solution  of  whale-oil  soap  with  no  effect,  and 
the  past  season  with  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper  and  lime,  also  with 
kerosene  emulsion,  so  he  writes,  but  without  any  apparent  effect. 

In  the  latter  days  of  May  Mr.  James  S.  Eobinson,  horticulturist 
of  the  Maryland  Experiment  Station,  called  at  this  office  for  advice 


79 

in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  this  insect,  which  he  reported  to  be  almost 
universally  destructive  throughout  the  berry-growing  region  of  the 
State  of  Maryland.  In  reply  to  inquiry  he  stated  that  at  least  fifty 
complaints  concerning  its  injuries  were  received  at  the  station.  Be 
estimated  the  damage  to  his  own  crop  at  about  $500  or  $600  and  to  the 
fruit-growing  district  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Baltimore  at  about 
$20,000. 

During  this  same  month  we  received  specimens  of  the  insect  from 
Mr.  M.  V.  Slingerland,  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  who  also  transmitted  a  com 
plaint  of  injury  that  was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  same  species  from 

Mr.  O.  W.  Coons,  Wadalin,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.— [F.  II.  CHITTEN- 
DEN. 

NOTE  ON  THE  SCOLYTII),  XYLEBORUS  TAOHYGKRAPHUS   /HIM. 

One  of  the  rarest  scolytid  beetles  in  collections  is  Xyleborua  tachy- 
graph  us  Zimm.,  and  until  its  discovery  a  few  years  since  infesting  the 
tulip  tree  (Liriodendron  tulipifera)  nothing  was  known  of  its  habits. 
In  volume  II  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Entomological  Society  of 
Washington  (pp.  62-04.)  Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz,  of  this  Division,  gave  some 
interesting  facts  concerning  this  species  and  its  food  tree. 

A  year  or  two  following  Mr.  Schwarz's  observations  the  writer  had 
occasion  to  observe  this  insect  at  work  in  other  trees,  there  being  evi- 
dence to  show  not  only  that  it  is  capable  of  considerable  injury  to 
young  forest  growth,  but  that  in  previous  years  it  had  been  sufficiently 
abundant  to  have  caused  the  death  of  many  trees  in  a  tract  of  wood- 
laud  in  the  vicinity  of  Rosslyn,  Va.,  and  in  the  same  neighborhood  in 
which  the  Liriodendron  colony  was  found. 

May  28,  females  were  discovered  beginning  their  galleries  in  the 
green  and  still  living  portion  of  a  stump  of  box-elder  (Negundo  negundo). 
On  the  same  tree  similarly  engaged  was  found  Monarthrum  mali,  an 
account  of  which  the  writer  has  already  given  (1.  c,  p.  392). 

June  11  of  the  following  year  another  colony  was  discovered,  occu- 
pied as  before,  on  two  saplings  of  red-bud  (Cercis  canadensis),  both 
plants  to  all  appearance  in  perfectly  healthy  condition.  The  entrance 
holes  of  the  scolytid's  galleries  were  a  few  inches  above  the  ground 
and  extended  about  a  foot  up  the  trunk.  They  were  very  closely 
crowded  together,  in  one  sapling  no  less  than  1G  holes  being  counted 
on  one  side  in  a  surface  of  3j  square  inches,  9  of  these  occurring  in  a 
space  only  an  inch  square.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  trunk  only  two 
galleries  had  been  started.  Subsequently  this  species  was  found  dead 
in  its  galleries,  at  the  bases  of  three  other  young  trees,  likewise  dead. 
viz,  maple  (Acer  sp.),  beech  (Fagus  l<ttif<>H<t     ferruginea),  ami  sumac 

(Rhus  typhina).  In  the  maple  the  longitudinal  galleries  of  the  beetle  ran 
parallel  to  each  other  and  were  constructed  90  closely  together  I  hat  the 

truuk  broke  olf  at  the  point  of  attack  under  slight  pressure.  In  the 
beech  and  sumac  the  galleries  were  similarly  crowded.  In  all  findings 
save  the  last  the  species  was  represented  only  by  one  sex.  the  female. 


80 

Mr.  Schwarz  has  remarked  that  the  galleries  of  this  species,  which 
he  describes  and  figures,  are  indistinguishable  from  those  of  our  com- 
mon X.  dispar,  which  occurred  in  the  same  shoots.  The  galleries  that 
I  have  seen  in  other  woods  differ  considerably,  but  as  the  general  design 
is  under  normal  conditions  somewhat  similar  it  will  be  unnecessary  to 
describe  them  here. — [F.  H.  Chittenden. 

THE  HARLEQUIN  CABBAGE  BUG  ON  ASPARAGUS. 

A  striking  instance  of  how  a  plant  never  before  known  as  furnishing 
sustenance  for  a  particular  species  of  insect  may  be  attacked  by  this 
insect  when  its  appropriate  and  favored  food  supply  becomes  exhausted 
was  recently  observed  in  the  case  of  the  harlequin  cabbage  bug, 
Murgantia  Mstrionica  Hahn. 

September  28, 1896,  an  asparagus  bed  at  Marshall  Hall,  Md.,  was 
found  to  be  full  of  these  bugs.  Hundreds  of  specimens,  naturally 
mostly  mature  at  this  time,  but  including  a  small  proportion  in  the  pre- 
paratory stages,  were  seen  gathered  in  large  groups  on  every  main 
stem  of  the  plants,  and  so  thickly  grouped  in  places  that  they  could 
easily  be  seen  for  20  yards  or  more.  Thus  huddled  together,  each  indi- 
vidual with  its  haustellum  sunk  into  the  succulent  stem,  they  looked 
like  gigantic  black  and  yellow  plant-lice. 

The  cause  of  this  unusual  visitation  was  at  once  apparent.  Three  or 
four  large  beds  of  cabbage,  all  completely  ruined  by  these  insects  had 
been  observed  in  this  same  garden  on  previous  occasions,  but  the  dam- 
aged plants  had  been  removed  aud  such  bugs  as  had  escaped  had  found 
their  way  to  the  asparagus  bed,  where  they  had  seemingly  made  them- 
selves quite  at  home.  It  was  noticeable  that  the  asparagus  was  pre- 
ferred to  all  other  plants.  Only  one  other  crop  had  attracted  them,  and 
this  of  little  importance,  the  sunflowers,  grown  for  indoor  decoration. 
Beans,  beets,  and  grapes  had  entirely  escaped  injury. 

In  July  of  a  previous  year  the  writer  noticed  large  numbers  of  this 
species  in  different  stages  feeding  on  the  common  ragweed,  Ambrosia 
trifida.  About  ten  days  later  all  had  disappeared.  No  crucifer  on 
which  they  might  have  bred  was  present  in  this  neighborhood  except 
the  shepherd's  purse  (Capsella  bursapastoris),  a  few  stunted,  withered 
plants  being  found  among  the  ragweeds.  They  were  competely  defoli- 
ated, the  leaves  having  withered,  dried,  and  dropped  off,  and  it  is  there- 
fore apparent  that  the  harlequin  bugs  had  originally  fed  upon  this  plant 
until  they  had  completely  exhausted  its  juices  and  had  then  been 
obliged  to  change  their  food  in  order  to  complete  their  transformations. 
The  adults  found  at  this  time  were  all  newly  bred  individuals. 

The  principal  damage  wrrought  by  this  insect,  as  is  well  known,  is  to 
plants  of  the  botanical  family  Oruciferse,  and  especially  to  cabbage, 
radishes,  turnips,  and  kale.  As  another  instance  of  unusual  injury 
by  this  species  may  be  mentioned  the  statement  of  Etr.  J.  A.  Lintner 
in  his  first  New  York  report  (p.  205).     He  relates  on  the  authority  of  a 


81 

correspondent  in  Virginia  that  at  one  time  after  exhausting  a  cabbage 
crop  these  bugs  attacked  bunches  of  late  grapes  and  shoots  of  late  corn, 

gathering-  in  numbers  near  the  silk. — [F.  II.  CHITTENDEN. 

MEAL-WORMS    IN   SODA    ASH. 

During  October  we  received  from  I>r.  John  B.  Porter,  consulting 
chemist,  of  Glendale,  Ohio,  specimens  of  living  larvae  of  the  meal  worm, 
Tenebrio  obscurus,  in  a  box  of  soda  ash.  Our  correspondent  wrote  that 
they  were  found  in  a  carload  of  this  chemical,  the  crude  sodium  car- 
bonate, from  Syracuse,  N.  V.  They  were  noticed  within  <J  or  8  inches 
of  the  bottom  and  most  numerous  nearer  the  bottom,  and  ('specially  ;it 
the  corners  and  edges.  The  men  who  handle  this  material  make  posi 
tive  statement  that  they  frequently  find  cars  containing  immense  num- 
bers of  them,  and  that  often  they  penetrate  nearly  2  feel  into  the  mass. 
They  also  state  that  these  larvae  are  only  found  in  October,  November, 
and  December,  and  further,  that  once  they  were  found  living  in  large 
numbers  in  a  bin  which  had  been  full  of  soda  ash  and  tightly  closed 
for  eight  months.  The  car  from  which  our  specimens  came  contained 
thousands  of  living  and  some  few  dead  larva'.  Tin'  only  plausible 
explanation  of  the  presence  of  the  meal-worms  in  the  soda  ash  is  that 
the  cars  had  previously  been  used  in  shipping  quantities  of  meal,  Hour, 
grain,  or  similar  material  in  which  the  insects  had  been  breeding. 
These  larvae  attain  approximate  growth  toward  the  beginning  of  the 
autumn,  which  will  explain  their  having  been  found  only  from  October 
to  December.  It  would  be  impossible  for  insects  to  feed  on  soda  ash, 
and  the  wonder  is  that  the  Tenebrio  larvae  are  able  to  live  at  all  in  so 
caustic  a  substance. 

AUSTRALIAN    AND    NEW    ZEALAND    <  JOCCl I  >  .1 :. 

In  a  most  interesting  letter  recently  received  from  .Mr.  W.  M.  Maskell, 
the  New  Zealand  authority  on  scale  insects,  he  gives  us  several  inter- 
esting bits  of  information,  among  others,  that  an  entirely  new  enemy 
to  the  peach  has  appeared  in  New  South  Wales.  He  describes  it  as 
Aonidiafusca,  and  states  that  in  Sydney  they  are  talcing  most  drastic 
measures  to  get  rid  of  the  insect,  destroying  the  trees  as  far  as  possible. 
The  San  dose  scale  [Aspidiotus  pemidosus)  has  recently  made  its 
appearance  in  Victoria.  Hitherto  it  has  been  known  only  in  New  South 
Wales.  Dactylopius  adonidum,  the  common  mealy  bug  of  Europe,  has, 
in  the  last  six  months,  broken  out  in  an  alarming  way  in  the  1  hit  t  Val- 
ley, near  Wellingto  i.  New  Zealand.  During  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1894  it  appeared  in  myriads  on  vines  in  greenhouses  and  on  go 
berries  out  of  doors,  much  to  the  amazement  of  market  gardeners.  Mr. 
Maskell  has  found  another  [cerya  from  Australia  which  has  u<>  ovisac. 

Referring  to  our  note  in  Inseet  Life    VoL  V,  p.  282   in  which  we  men- 
tion on  the  authority  of  Mr,  Alex.  Craw  the  introduction  of  CU  not],  it  on 
perforatus  and  Dactylopius  iceryoides  into  California,  he  states  that  he 
89G7— Xo.  7 i> 


'  82 

lias  recently  received  from  Mr.  Ebrhorn  specimens  of  the  insects  thus 
named,  and  finds  that  the  first  is  not  aCtenochiton  at  all,  but  probably 
adactylopid,  while  the  second  is  not  />.  iceryoides,  but  I),  aurilanatus  of 
Maskell.  The  bright  golden  color  of  the  latter  insect  and  its  food  plant 
(Araucaria)  ought  to  have  been  sufficient  guides  to  correctness.  The 
species,  although  first  reported  from  New  Zealand,  is,  according  to 
Mr.  Maskell,  probably  Australian,  and  he  thinks  that  Queensland  was 
probably  its  original  habitat. 

TWO   APPLE    INSECTS   LIABLE    TO    IMPORTATION. 

Among  the  insects  which  American  fruit  growers  will  have  to  guard 
against  with  reference  to  their  possible  importation  into  this  country 
are  Caccecia  responsana  and  C.  excessana,  the  former  an  Australian, 
and  the  latter  a  New  Zealand  species.  Both  of  these  insects  exhibit 
a  decided  preference  for  the  apple,  and  the  former  is  supposed  to  be 
almost  as  great  a  pest  as  the  codling  moth,  penetrating  the  rind  of  the 
fruit  and  disfiguring  it  for  dessert,  although  not  seriously  injuring  it 
for  culinary  purposes.  The  latter  is  a  leaf  roller,  but  also  damages 
young  fruit  in  a  rather  serious  way. 

A   NEW  DIRECT   BENEFIT   FROM   INSECTS. 

When  Kirby  and  Spence  wrote  their  chapter  on  "  Direct  benefits 
derived  from  insects"  and  recorded  the  use  of  insects  for  food,  the  use 
of  honey  from  bees  for  the  same  purpose,  the  use  in  medicine  and  the 
arts  and  manufactures  of  blister  beetles,  insect  galls,  Coccidre  furnish- 
ing lac,  wax  insects,  and  the  silkworm,  the  time  had  hardly  arrived  for 
the  extensive  collection  of  ants  for  the  manufacture  of  formic  acid  or 
of  their  pupa?,  as  food  for  song  birds,  and  we  feel  sure  that  they  could 
hardly  have  anticipated  an  industry  which  has  recently  sprung  up  both 
in  France  and  Pennsylvania,  and  which  consists  of  the  farming  of  spiders 
for  the  purpose  of  stocking  wine  cellars,  and  thus  securing  an  almost 
immediate  coating  of  cobwebs  to  new  wine  bottles,  giving  them  the 
appearance  of  great  age.  This  industry  is  carried  on  in  a  little  French 
village  in  the  Department  of  Loire,  and  by  an  imported  Frenchman 
named  Grantaire  on  tlie  Lancaster  Pike,  4  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
This  Frenchman  raises  Epeir a  vulgaris  and  KepMla  pJumipes  in  large 
quantities  and  sells  them  to  wine  merchants  at  the  rate  of  $10  per 
hundred. 

ADDITIONAL   POPULAR  NAMES  FOR   CORYDALIS   CORNUTA. 

On  page  122  of  Volume  II,  Insect  Life,  we  gave  a  short  list  of  Rhode 
Island  popular  names  for  this  insect,  to  which  we  now  add  the  follow- 
ing list,  taken  from  Forest  and  Stream  for  September  25,  1881. 


83 


Common  names  of  Hellgramite 

i  CorydalU  cornuta  Linn.) 


Locality. 

Name. 

Locality . 

Xalie 

Colombia  Co.,  <ia — 

Shellhead. 

Monroe  Co.,  X.  ST  ... 

Hell  deviL 

Water  Gap,  Pa 

Helwanger. 

Virginia 

Flip  Hap;  stone  devil. 

Boger  or  Bogart. 

ii  X<  \\    fork. 

AUigator. 

Algamite. 

Perkiomen,  Pa 

( 'raw  ler. 

Southern  Indiana 

<  .ci  devil. 

( Jarlisle,  Pa 

GoJack. 

North  Vernon,  Ohio. . 

Snake  feeder. 

Wyalusing,  Pa 

D<    ilcatcber. 

Litchfield,  Conn 

Bloomer. 

Hanover,  Pa 

Snake  doctor. 

Janesville,  Wis 

Crawler. 

Lafayette,  Pa 

Stone  climber. 

Fulton,  X.  V 

Theandy. 

Flat  i;.m  k,  r 

Clipper  bug. 

Black  crab. 

Tnlpehocken,  Pa  . . . 

ETJftaroite;  kiugmite. 

White  crab. 

Fox  River,  Wis 

Dam  \\oi  m. 

Flying  crab. 

Scbobarie,  X.  V 

Dragon. 

Schenectady,  N.  V  ... 

Black  \\  orm  ;  il.\  inu  w  orm. 

Bazleton,  Pa 

Devil. 

Towanda,  Pa 

Connipl  ion  bug 

Portland,  Pa 

Bogart. 

Honesdaie,  Pa 

Clipper. 

Rali  igh.N.C 

Red  crab. 

Milford,  Pa 

Stone  crab:  sand  crab. 

Yellow  crab. 

LambertsA  ill*-.  N.  J  . . 

Water  grampus. 

Hell  driver. 

Tumble,  N..J 

Goggle  goj  . 

Laekaw  axon,  Pa.... 

Flj  ing  clipper. 

Interior,  >.'.  <I   

Crock. 

In  many  places 

Hellgramite :  Dobson. 

J 


NOTES  FROM  CORRESPONDENCE. 

Eastern  insects  reported  in  British  Columbia. — In  the  course  of  the  very 
numerous  "Notes  from  Correspondents"  printed  in  the  Fourth  Report  of  the  depart- 
ment of  agriculture  of  the  Province  of  British  Columbia  for  1894  frequent  mention 
is  made  of  the  plum  enrculio  and  pear-tree  psylla.  Inasmuch  as  neither  of  these 
insects  has  been  known  to  occur  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  we  wrote  to  Mr.  R.  M.  Palmer, 
inspector  of  fruit  pests  of  the  Province,  who  has  replied  that  the  common  pear-leaf 
slug  is  often  called  "pear-tree  psylla"  out  there,  and  that  he  Las  never  seen  speci- 
mens of  the  plum  curculio  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

A  wasp  attacking  codling  moth  larvae. — A  Avasp,  Sphecius  nevadensis,  closely 
related  to  the  common  species  which  in  the  East  attacks  cicadas  is  reported  by  Mr. 
N.  W.  Motheral,  of  Hanford,  Cal.,  to  be  attacking  codling  moth  larvae  in  pears.  He 
has  not  observed  the  wasps  on  apples,  but  the  -pear  trees  all  over  the  country  where 
this  fruit  is  attacked  by  the  codling  moth  have  swarms  of  the  wasps  inspecting  each 
tree.  Mr.  Motheral  describes  the  wasp  as  pulling  the  larvre  out  of  the  pears  with  its 
"  fore  foot."     This  record  is  new  and  interesting. 

Cells  of  a  leaf-cutter  bee  in  a  curious  place. — A  correspondent  in  Texas  sends 
to  the  Division  the  larval  cells  of  a  species  of  Megachile,  found  by  his  wife  in  a 
disused  bed  between  the  sheet  and  the  quilt.  The  species  can  not  be  determined 
from  the  material  sent,  but,  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  rear  the  adult. 

Birds  eating  leaf-miners. — Mr.  T.  D.  A.  Cockerell  writes  us  that  he  has  seen  a  red- 
winged  starling  (Agelams  pliamiceus)  busily  engaged  in  eating  the  larv;e  of  the  Cot- 
tonwood leaf  miner  (a  sawfly).  He  writes  that  the  birds  are  quite  expert  at  getting 
the  larvae  out  of  the  leaves. 

A  migration  of  Colias  csesonia. — Instances  of  migratory  swarms  of  butter- 
flies of  the  subfamily  Pierinre  have  frequently  been  observed,  but  none  have  been 
recorded  so  far  as  we  know,  of  Colias  cevsonia.  May  26  we  received  a  number  of  speci- 
mens of  this  species  from  Dr.  J.  M.  Shaffer,  of  Keokuk,  Iowa,  who  writes  under  date 
of  May  22  as  follows : 

"Yesterday  great  numbers  of  these  butterflies  passed  from  south  to  north  over 
this  place.  They  came  up  the  streets  and  over  the  houses  and  tree  tops.  Very  few 
alighted.  I  followed  them  to  our  park,  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  everywhere  they  were 
moving  north,  hundreds  of  them.  In  a  field  of  red  clover  and  on  the  pansies  and 
other  flowers  of  the  park  I  captured  a  dozen  or  so  of  them.  *  *  *  After  1  p.  m. 
I  went  to  the  United  States  Government  canal  lock,  just  below  my  house,  and  100 
feet  down  the  hill,  and  found  that  the  butterflies  came  across  the  Mississippi.  I 
observed  them  also  on  the  bridge,  and  they  came  from  Illinois,  from  how  far  east  I 
have  no  means  of  knowing.     They  are  very  numerous  to-day." 

Boll  worm  damage  to  strawberry  plants. — Mr.  R.  T.  Smith,  of  Utica,  Mo., 
writes  us  that  Heliothis  armiger  has  been  discovered  in  his  locality  this  fall  damaging 
strawberry  plants  by  eating  the  crown  and  destroying  the  runners. 

Injury  to  apples  by  the  ash-gray  pinion. — Mr.  Harry  S.  Burnett,  of  Kendall, 
Orleans  County,  N.  Y.,  writes  under  date  of  June  7,  transmitting  specimens  of  the 
larva  of  Lithophane  antennata=Xylina  cinerea,  with  the  statement  that  it  is  doing 
immense  damage  to  apples  in  neighboring  sections.  It  is  found  in  every  orchard, 
whether  the  orchard  has  been  sprayed  ov  not.  Spraying  at  the  right  time  will 
probably  prevent  this  damage.  It  should  not  be  sprayed  until  after  the  leaves  are 
well  grown. 
84 


85 

Scolytid  beetles  boring  into  wine  casks. — Two  cases  of  this  rather  rare  Injury 
have  been  reported  to  this  office  within  a  few  days  of  each  other.  September  9  Mr. 
Holmes  Erwin  sent  us  from  Pomona,  Fla.,  specimens  of*  Xyleborua  pubeaeena,  which 

he  stated  were  doing  much  injury  to  wine  casks  iu  his  cellar  by  boring  through  the 
staves  and  causing  leakage.  On  September  12  Mr.  George  T.  Hart  sent  from  Nicka- 
jack,  Ga.,  specimens  of  Monarthrum  mali  and  M.fa8ciatum}  which  were  damaging 
his  wine  casks  in  the  same  way.  This  injury  is  one  of  the  results  of  the  February 
freeze,  which  occasioned  such  widespread  disaster  last  winter  all  over  the  South. 
This  freeze  greatly  increased  the  food  supply  of  these  and  allied  Scolytidte,  which  as 
a  consequence  have  multiplied  enormously  and  are  doing  much  damage,  especially 
in  Florida. 

Invasion  of  a  carabid  beetle. — Mrs.  E.  D.  Kane,  M.  D.,  writes  us  from  Kane, 
Pa.,  that  she  has  been  much  annoyed  by  iho  appearance  in  her  house  of  numbers  of 
the  small  but  \er.\  strong-smelling  carabid  beetle,  Nomius  pygmceua.  So  foul  was 
the  odor  from  the  insects  that  defects  in  the  drainage  system  were  suspected,  and 
the  pipes  were  inspected.  The  beetles  were  probably  attracted  to  the  house  at 
night  by  the  lights. 

An  unwelcome  insect  imported  via  the  World's  Fair. — Prof.  W.  T.  Trelease 
sends  from  Missouri  larva'  and  beetles  which  he  states  are  very  troublesome  in  cycads 
on  a  suburban  place  in  St.  Louis.  They  came  in  plants  bought  by  the  owner  of  the 
place  at  the  (lose  of  the  Chicago  Exposition,  and  Mr.  Trelease  thinks  were  imported 
direct  either  from  Australia  or  South  Africa.  The  insect  proves  to  belong  to  the  Aus- 
tralian genus  Trains,  family  Curculionidss,  and  is  a  dangerous  addition  to  our  insect 
fauna.     Energetic  steps  should  be  taken  to  exterminate  it. 

The  drug-store  beetle  damaging  boots  again. — Supplementary  to  the  note 
upon  pages  403-404  of  Volume  IV,  of  Insect  Life,  we  have  to  record  the  receipt  of 
larvae  of  what  is  probably  Sitodrepa  panicea  from  the  quartermaster's  depot  at  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  where  they  are  said  to  be  damaging  boots  by  boring  into  the  leather 
near  the  straps,  where  an  excess  of  paste  was  used,  and  also  wherever  the  past*'  was 
dropped  upon  the  boot.  The  ordinary  bisulphide  of  carbon  treatment  wTas  recom- 
mended. 

Injury  by  the  three-striped  blister  beetle. — In  Volume  IV  of  Insect  Life,  page 
77.  attention  was  called  to  the  three-striped  blister  beetle  (Epicauta  lemniscata  Fab.) 
and  its  injuries  in  potato  tields  and  to  cabbage.  June  5  of  the  present  year  (1896) 
Mr,  W.  F.  Colcock  sent  specimens  of  this  beetle  from  Yemassee,  S.  C,  with  the 
report  that  it  was  injurious  to  potato  vines,  beet  tips,  and  squash  plants,  and 
during  August  Messrs.  W.  T.  Taylor  &  Bro.  wrote  that  the  alfalfa  crop  in  the  vicinity 
of  Wharton,  Tex.,  was  a  failure  through  the  depredations  of  the  same  insect.  Sep- 
tember 4  we  received  specimens  for  determination,  with  the  further  statement  that 
it  did  much  damage  to  other  vegetation. 

Oreodera  in  the  West  Indies. — Mr.  J.  E.  Duerden,  acting  secretary  of  the  Insti- 
tute of  Jamaica,  Kingston.  Jamaica,  British  West  Indies,  sends  us  specimens  in  all 
stages  of  the  longicorn  beetle,  Oreodera  glauca,  boring  into  sweet  orange  trees  in 
Jamaica.  The  sending  is  of  unusual  interest,  as  it  not  only  gives  us  a  new  orange- 
tree  enemy,  but  from  the  further  fact  that  of  the  :>7  species  of  the  genus  oreodera 
none  has  ever  before  been  found  in  the  West  Indies. 

A  new  locality  for  Bruchus  obsoletus. — January  10  of  the  present  year  we 
received  from  Mr.  (J.  II.  Hicks,  of  the  Division  of  Botany  of  this  Department,  spec- 
imens of  Bruchus  obaoletua  say  and  Apton  aegnipea  Say,  bred  from  the  seeds  of  Tepk- 
roaia  apicata  collected  at  Titusville,  Brevard  County,  Fla.  B.  obaoletua,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  Long  believed  to  be  the  name  of  the  destructive  bean  weevil  until 
1892,  when  we  succeeded  in  establishing  the  identity  of  the  bean  Bpecies  with  />'. 
obtectua  Say  and  obaoletua  as  the  species  that  Lives  on  Tephroaio  virginiana.  The  lat- 
ter was  described  from  Indiana,  and  has  been  recorded  also  from  the  District  of 
Columbia.  The  species  and  its  food  plant  are  figured  in  the  Annual  Report  of  this 
Department  for  1892  (PL  \  II.  tigs.  2  and  3). 


86 

Hippelates  flies  and  sore  eyes. — The  late  Dr.  James  C.  Neal  wrote  ns  from  Still- 
water, Okla.,  just  before  his  lamented  death,  that  in  his  experience  in  Florida  Hip- 
pelates is  a  carrier  of  the  virus  of  gonorrheal  sore  eyes  from  person  to  person, 
causing  the  epidemic  form  ;  but  that  if  crushed  in  the  angle  of  the  eye  a  very  violent 
inflammation  of  the  lid,  without  pus,  occurs.  The  body  of  the  fly  seems  to  con- 
tain an  acid,  probably  formic,  which  causes  great  suffering  to  the  unfortunate  child 
that  has,  with  some  trouble,  succeeded  in  crushing  it  in  the  angle  of  the  eye.  A 
week  solution  of  sodium  bicarbonate  gives  relief  speedily  in  this  case;  in  the  former 
there  is  great  danger  of  losing  the  sight  by  ulceration  of  the  cornea. 

Larvae  in  the  ear. — Dr.  William  C.  Braislin  sends  us  from  Brooklyn,  ]ST.  Y.,  speci- 
mens of  maggots  taken  from  the  ear  of  a  patient  suffering  from  acute  suppuration 
of  the  middle  ear.  They  appear  to  belong  to  either  Calliphora  or  Sarcophaga,  and 
are  quite  unlike  the  larvte  of  Lucilia  macellaria  and  L.  ccvsar.  The  eggs  are  supposed 
to  have  been  laid  three  days  before  the  larvae  appeared;  a  supposition  which,  if  it 
has  any  foundation  at  all,  indicates  that  the  patient  was  aware  of  the  oviposition  of 
the  parent  fly. 

Early  and  new  appearance  of  the  horn  fly. — Mr.  M.  Tandy,  of  Hancock  County, 
111.,  writes  us  that  the  horn  fly  made  its  appearance  in  his  vicinity  about  May  2, 
1895.  He  believes  this  to  be  the  first  visitation  in  that  particular  locality.  Mr. 
John  W.  Mansfield,  writing  from  Essex  County,  Mass.,  states  that  the  fly  was  first 
noticed  in  that  neighborhood  on  the  7th  of  May. 

Mr.  I.  W.  Nicholson,  of  Camden,  writes  that  this  insect  appeared  in  New  Jersey 
earlier  than  ever  before  known.  They  were  first  observed  April  30,  and  great  annoy- 
ance to  stock  was  expected  during  the  season. 

We  have  received  specimens  of  this  fly  from  Mr.  A.  L.  Wilson,  of  Quincy,  Fla., 
who  says  that  it  first  appeared  there  in  1893. 

Mr.  W.  W.  Merriam  sends  us,  under  date  of  November  7,  1895,  specimens  of  the 
horn  fly  from  Twin  Oaks,  San  Diego  County,  Cal.  He  gives  a  good  account  of  their 
occurrence  upon  cattle,  and  inclines  to  the  belief  that  they  came  on  Texas  stock. 

A  man-infesting  bot. — In  May,  1896,  we  received  from  Mr.  J.  R.  Swinerton, 
manager  of  the  Hotel  Warwick,  Newport  News,  Va.,  an  cestrid  larva  taken  from  the 
arm  of  a  sailor  at  Newport  News  May  11.  The  sailor  stated  that  he  was  stung  by 
an  insect  about  six  weeks  previously  in  Brazil.  The  larva  was  nearly  full  grown 
and  was  living  when  taken  from  the  arm.  It  was  light  in  color,  but  turned  brown 
and  died  before  it  was  received  in  Washington.  No  further  facts  could  be  ascer- 
tained, since,  in  the  interval  between  the  sending  of  the  insect  to  Washington  and 
the  receipt  of  a  reply  from  this  office,  the  man  had  disappeared.  The  larva  was  in 
fairly  good  condition  and  was  sent  to  Dr.  E.  Blanchard,  in  Paris,  who  wrote  us  under 
dateof  JuneSthat  it yvas Dermatobia  cyaniventris,  known  as  the  "torcel"  or  "berne." 
Dr.  Blanchard's  papers  upon  the  (Estridae  attacking  human  beings,  in  the  Annales 
de  la  Societe"  Entomologique  de  France  for  1893-94,  have  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  this 
interesting  and  important  topic. 

An  efficient  flycatcher. — Mr.  A.  W.  Butler,  of  Brook ville,  Ind.,  has  sent  us  a 
specimen  of  Bitlacus  ptficornis  Wesbw.,  which  he  says  was  one  of  a  number  of  speci- 
mens which  had  attracted  much  attention  at  Brookville  on  account  of  their  efficiency 
as  catchers  of  flies.  August  26  about  20  of  them  were  observed  in  the  office  of  the 
principal  hotel  in  Brookville  catching  and  killing  flies. 

Habits  of  Comastes  robustus. — Specimens  of  this  interesting  bombyliid  fly, 
which  is  a  native  of  the  Southwest,  have  been  sent  in  by  Messrs.  M.  B.  Davis  and 
W.  E.  Armstrong  from  Waco,  Tex.  They  captured  it  hovering  above  the  entrance  to 
the  nests  of  a  species  of  Melissodes  which  has  not  yet  been  determined.  It  is  likely 
that  the  bee  fly  is  parasitic  in  the  nests  of  the  Melissodes. 

A  corn-feeding  syrphid  fly. — Mr.  A.  V.  Sims  sends  us  from  Wenonda,  Va.,  speci- 
mens of  the  syrphid,  Mcsograpta  polita,  the  corn-feeding  habits  of  which  are  noted  in 
Insect  Life,  Vol.  I,  pp.  5-8.     He  reports  it  quite  injurious  to  the  corn  crop. 

Damage  to  chufas  by  Cyrtoneurus  mutabilis. — We  have  recently  received  from 


87 

I'rof.  Gerald  McCarthy,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  aD(l  from  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Key,  of  Mont- 
gomery, Ala.,  specimens  of  the  hemipterous  insect  known  as  Cyrtoneurua  mutubHis, 
which,  it  is  stated,  is  damaging  chufas  by  puncturing  the  tubers. 

A  plant-bug  on  Russian  apricot  trees. — We  have  received  specimens  of  Lep- 
toylossus  opposiiits  from  a  correspondent  at  Oakton,  Va.,  who  reports  that  t  he  species 
is  to  be  found  in  considerable  numbers  on  his  Russian  apricot  trees,  both  leaves  and 
fruit  being  affected. 

Chionaspis  biclavis  in  Mexico. — Mr.  Ehrhorn  sends  mounted  specimens  taken  in 
Mr.  Craw's  quarantine  work  from  a  lime  tree  which  had  come  from  Mexico.  This 
was  in  April,  1895.  This  insect  might  be  very  troublesome  indeed  on  our  citrus  trees 
should  it  become  established;  the  more  so  that  it  is  very  inconspicuous. 

The  hop  plant-louse  in  Japan. — Among  the  many  interesting  facts  communi- 
cated to  this  offioe  by  Mr.  Albert  Koebele,  recently  traveling  in  the  Orient  for  the 
Hawaiian  Government,  is  the  statement  that  he  has  found  the  hop-plant  louse.  Pho- 
rodon  humuli,  upon  plum,  Prunua  communis,  in  Japan,  also  upon  Pajan  hop,  Hamulus 
japonicus.  The  common  commercial  hop,  //.  luj>ulus,  occurs  in  Yesso ;  hut  this  plant 
■was  not  examined  by  Mr.  Koebele. 

Abundance  of  a  red  mite  in  Arizona.— Mr.  Herbert  Brown  sends  from  Tucson, 
Ariz.,  specimens  of  a  red  mite  which  he  states  arc;  very  abundant  on  the  mesa  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  city.  The  species,  as  determined  by  Mr.  Banks,  is  Trombidium 
magnifienm.  It  is  widely  scattered  over  southern  Arizona,  according  to  Mr.  Brown, 
and  is  said  to  be  more  abundant  in  the  mountains.  These  insects  are  called  "angel- 
itas"  (little  angels)  by  the  Mexicans. 

Icerya  purchasi  not  in  the  Azores. — Several  statements  have  appeared  in  print 
of  late  to  the  effect  that  the  fluted  scale  (Icerya  purchasi)  has  appeared  on  one  of  the 
Azores  Islands,  and  has  been  damaging  the  citrus  plantations.  We  have  learned 
from  Dr.  Francisco  A.  Chaves,  of  the  Municipal  Museum,  l'onta  Delgada,  that  this 
scale  insect  has  not  appeared  upon  any  of  these  islands,  and  that  the  rumor  arose 
from  the  fact  that  Mytilanjns  citricola  has  been  damaging  orange  trees  on  the  Island 
of  San  Miguel. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 


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